How Advertisers Can Approach an Epic Sports Year
Despite the bifurcation of TV viewing across hundreds of platforms and the decline of what many call the monoculture, there is one constant in media consumption: the Super Bowl will be the most-watched TV program of the year.
The big game has evolved so that viewers can now tune in to NBC’s linear channel, as well as stream it via Peacock, Fubo, Hulu+Live TV, YouTube TV, and NFL+.
One channel that is conspicuously absent from there is traditional YouTube, but that doesn’t mean that it will be without Super Bowl content. Rather the opposite - YouTube will be at the center of the Super Bowl viewership, regardless of broadcast rights. What’s more, this will be a precursor to an epic sports year for advertisers – one where YouTube will be more central than they may understand.
No broadcast rights, no problem
YouTube is the truest representation of shifts in consumer viewing habits. While the live Super Bowl broadcast will be the single most-watched program of the year, the on demand YouTube ecosystem will produce a massive amount of content around the game. Sports networks, news organizations, the broadcast rights holders, creators, podcasters, betting experts, and dozens of other types of channels will produce so many hours of content that it will be impossible for any one viewer to consume it all.
The teasers, behind-the-scenes footage, reaction videos, betting advice, and post-game commentary posted to YouTube have transformed the game into a multi-week cultural event. The 30-second slots that air on NBC will be seen by a massive audience and command more than $7 million. The ads on YouTube will reach equally engaged viewers, but they can be targeted based on audience interest and contextual relevance, giving advertisers the kind of granularity that drives performance.
This isn’t a new strategy, but it is transformative. TV advertisers seeking a discount have long bought into content that is adjacent to major sporting events. Pre-game shows, post-game coverage, and other networks’ analysis of the game all represent opportunities to reach fans.
What YouTube does is exponentially increase the number of opportunities in this strategy. In the past, a brand could buy ads on ESPN’s Sportscenter the night of the game to reach fans who wanted to relive the biggest plays. Now they have dozens, if not hundreds, of YouTube channels that offer the same thing. Each of those channels likely brings the voice and presence of creators that have built a deep connection with their audience. In other words, viewers aren’t only tuning in only for analysis and highlights, they are tuning in for that creator’s analysis. This means they are deeply engaged and likely to respond to ads that are contextually relevant.
This is actually an inversion of the current trend of including influencers within Super Bowl ads. If there’s value in using someone as a spokesperson in an $8 million commercial, then there is value in advertising directly to a creator’s audience on their platform of choice.
2026: The biggest sports year yet
When the big game kicks off on February 8, it won’t even be the first major sports event of the year. That honor goes to the Winter Olympics, which begin on February 6 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (NBC also holds the broadcast rights for that event). Those will be followed by the most-watched sporting event in the world, the 2026 World Cup, which takes place in the U.S., Canada and Mexico this summer.
The Super Bowl is a single football game that is the most-watched TV program in the U.S. The World Cup is a month-long tournament that is the most-watched sporting event in the world. The 1994 World Cup in the U.S. essentially launched soccer as a major sport in the U.S., kickstarting a professional league that broadcasts its games on Apple TV+.
There is no ceiling for what this North American World Cup could do for both the game and the brands that participate in the action. The live games will undoubtedly attract fans, but the YouTube community will be making content that exceeds what we see for the Super Bowl. Audiences from across different cultural backgrounds will be looking for analysis, insight, highlights, and perspective throughout the month. In fact, there’s already a deluge of content explaining how the tournament works to interested American audiences.
The Winter Olympics aren’t small potatoes, either. The global celebration of athleticism, perseverance, and national pride represents a huge opportunity for brands to capture viewer attention. With the events taking place in Europe, fans are eager to catch up on what they missed, rather than wait for primetime broadcasts. Again, this makes YouTube a central component for any brand that wants to capture this engagement.
This means that 2026 is shaping up to be a year where brands can stand out from the crowd by aligning themselves with the major sporting events, and they don’t need to be official sponsors in order to do so. The second-screen is proving just as valuable when it comes to opportunity and engagement.
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from Cadent VuePlanner. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]
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