Sports Media Predictions: Looking Ahead to 2026

The next phase of sports media will not be defined by breakthroughs alone. It will be defined by decisions. About focus. About balance. And about where value really sits.

When Stadiums Start Thinking for Themselves

There is something special about walking into a stadium. The noise, the anticipation, the energy you can feel in your chest. For all the things technology has transformed in sports, that moment has remained stubbornly human. But stadiums are changing. Slowly, quietly, and in ways most fans never see, the matchday venue is becoming one of the most technologically sophisticated environments in sports.

A Tipping Point for Live Sports: Personalized Multiview and L-bar Ad Tech

A new collaboration was unveiled at Streaming Media Connect 2025 where Ring Digital's #FutureOfTV.Live produced a special, data-driven panel on Multiview, Mosaics, and L-bars in the context of live sports and CTV ad tech.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect December

Streaming Media Connect December was all about live and featured exclusive keynote fireside chats with Rebecca Sirmons of NASA+ and Neal Roberts of WarnerBros. Discovery and a slate of live streaming panels packed with speakers from Peacock TV, Paramount+, Google, Globo, EZDRM, nanocosmos, CommScope, Starz, Professional Fighters League, LG, and more. Check out a playlist with Streaming Media Connect December sessions on Streaming Media's YouTube channel to catch the sessions you missed and revel in the ones you want to relive through the magic of VOD.

SMPTE Releases Updated Engineering Report on Artificial Intelligence and the Media

SMPTE®, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), have released a comprehensive document on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its affect on the media. The document was the result of a task force on AI standards in Media that began in 2020 and is an updated version of the Engineering Report released in 2023.

MediaKind and Harmonic’s Video Business to Combine, Creating a Leading Streaming-Infrastructure Platform

Combined business will be the #1 independent comprehensive streaming-infrastructure platformBrings together complementary product teams to drive faster advancement across cloud and appliance technologiesFurthers MediaKind's mission to redefine the future of media and entertainment through advanced video technology

Even if Netflix Gets the Library, Can It Take the Stadium?

What the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal means for sports. And why it is not simple.

Netflix Move on WBD Means Others Have to Scale Fast or Die Trying

At the start of 2025 Netflix set a target of achieving 430 million subscribers worldwide by 2030. The deal to acquire the streaming platforms not to mention content of Warner Bros. Studios means this is likely an underestimate in both deadline and sheer mass of consumers that now comes under its wing. Netflix has confirmed it will officially acquire Warner Bros in a deal worth $82.7bn, under which Netflix will acquire Warner Bros, including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO, but not Discovery Global.

Rethink's Alex Davies Talks New Transcoding Report and Future of VVC, AV1, and LCEVC

Contributing Editor Jan Ozer recently spoke with Alex Davies, senior analyst at Rethink Technology Research, about Rethink's new report, "The Media and Entertainment Transcoding Workload and Device Royalty Forecast for 2020 to 2030," and what it says about the future of VVC, AV1, and LCEVC for streaming publishers.

Automation Fatigue: Finding the Balance

The more we automate, the less we notice when creativity starts to fade. You can feel it in production teams that stop questioning. You can hear it when the director's voice is replaced by a workflow alert. When efficiency becomes the loudest voice in the room, the human instinct that makes sport so compelling starts to fade.

NASA GM & Head of NASA+ Rebecca Sirmons to Keynote Streaming Media Connect December

Streaming Media Connect will launch December 9 with an exclusive Keynote Fireside Chat featuring GM & Head of NASA+ Rebecca Sirmons. Titled "Streaming the Universe with NASA+," the conversation will look at future plans involving streaming the first crewed landing on the Moon in over 50 years. This fireside chat will also explore how NASA and Sirmons' team developed NASA+ and the infrastructure, ops, and workflows that launch live streams from space at massive scope and scale.

The Champions League Goes Global. But Can Streaming Carry the Weight?

News of Paramount's successful bid for the Champions League and the weeks of rumours that preceded it have set the industry buzzing. It feels like a natural next step. Fans are global. The game is global. The biggest platforms in the world want premium, live, must-watch content.

YES Network – America’s pre-eminent Regional Sports Network and the exclusive regional home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets – and CAMB.AI enter into an agreement to explore strategic AI initiatives

Partnership comes as CAMB.AI continues to break down language barriers between sports and fans, including recent live multilingual broadcasts with MLS and NASCAR

Does IRIS.TV’s Tagging Partnership With Tubi Signal a Moneyball Moment for Longtail CTV Content?

IRIS.TV recently partnered with Tubi so IRIS.TV could provide advertisers with the appropriate level of AVOD addressability, contextual targeting, and measurement. To learn more about IRIS.TV's tagging strategy and collaboration with Tubi, I spoke with Rohan Castelino, CMO of IRIS.TV.

Verizon Business Powers Next-Generation Broadcasts for Monumental Sports & Entertainment

100G Optical Network Backbone enables broadcast innovation for the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, and Capital City Go-Go

Field & Stream and Outdoor America Partner to Launch “Field & Stream TV”

New Channel Combines Iconic Outdoor Legacy with Expanded Content and Industry-Leading Reach

AI Alone Can't Deliver Smart Sports Streams

When it comes to algorithm-based sports coverage, from capture to cuts to commentary by synthetic voice, much of the tech required to remove humans from the equation already exists. AI can recognize goals, track the ball, and switch between angles faster than any human. But you can't replicate the buzz, the instinct, the unspoken coordination of a team reacting in real time. That's what makes live sports feel alive.

TikTok, Friction, and the Future of Video Shopping

At Streaming Media 2025 in Santa Monica, my panel with Dallas Lawrence (Telly), Sarge Sargent, Bryan Moore (TalkShopLive), and David Grant (Favored.Live) explored the hottest video shopping trend around, and it's not what TV techies have been building.

Nokia, Ericsson, Fraunhofer HHI Join Forces to Drive 6G-Era Video Coding Standardization

In this exclusive interview, Streaming Media's Jan Ozer speaks with Ville-Veikko Mattila, Head of Multimedia Technologies at Nokia, about Nokia's collaboration with Ericsson and Fraunhofer Institute on a new codec development and its implications for the next decade of video compression.

When #2 Beats #1 in Sports: Key Insights from Professional Fighters League, Swerve Sports, Roku, and Major League Table Tennis

There are hundreds of distinct sports that have been televised somewhere globally. What makes one sport work so well on TV, and not another? That's just one fascinating topic I discussed with four panelists at Streaming Media 2025 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. Two of those panelists were involved with combat sports, which has proven to be a hot format in linear and live channel environments, including FAST. So hot, in fact, that combat also happens to be at the center of a watershed licensing agreement recently signed between the newly formed Paramount+/Skydance and UFC, the #1 combat sports brand in the world.