5 BOLD Predictions for the Sports Industry in 2026

🏈 14 Days: National Championship in Miami

🥇 32 Days: Olympics in Milan

🏈 34 Days: Super Bowl Sunday in San Francisco

Today’s Newsletter will take ≈ 4 minutes ≈ to read

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2026 Predictions:

365 days is a LONG time. Less than 365 days ago, Barstool hadn’t partnered with Netflix or Fox, Pablo Torre wasn’t a household name (again), and I wasn’t getting ready to be a father…

Here’s what will happen in the next 365.

1. Sportsbooks will LOSE

This is not a prediction about prediction markets nor my bet of the year…

• Sportsbooks got so greedy which will cause them to lose customers in 2026

• I’ve talked to many friends of different backgrounds and financial brackets and the main theme is betting fatigue

• When you consistently gouge your customer with shitty touchdown scorer odds or convince them the 8 leg parlay is going to hit if they just throw a 10% boost on it, what you’re left with is losing (and a lot of it).

What will happen: Sports betting returns to a form of entertainment and camaraderie. $10 or $100 bets to make the game more interesting. Your group chat picks a player to score with those aforementioned shitty TD odds.

Who wins?: The platforms who focus on the group chat and that community feel. That is where activity will stem from.

2. Fans finally say enough is enough

In 2026, sports fans will quiet quit with their bank accounts.

• I have a subscription to Peacock, YouTube TV, ESPN+, Amazon Prime, Sunday Ticket, Netflix and Hulu.

• It feels like we’re being taken advantage of…

• Player salaries increase, revenues rise, ticket prices go up, cost of jerseys get larger yet quality drops…

What Will Happen: Fans won’t lead petitions to re-centralize digital streaming rights but you will see renewal of streaming services drop.

3. You were early to YouTube

In 2017 when I started Snapback Sports, I chose Snapchat over platforms like Instagram and Twitter because I thought they were oversaturated (LOL)

In 2019 when I started the Snapback Sports podcast, I thought podcasts were oversaturated (LOL)

In 2026, you may be having those same exact thoughts about YouTube

• The organizations, businesses and content creators that go all-in on YT this year will receive this message in 24 months: “You’re so lucky you were early to YouTube”

• Except it won’t be luck.

• With 2.49B users, YT is clearly taking over TV

What will happen: The best orgs will focus on YouTube like they did their social media teams 5 years ago.

4. Content creators get burnt out

Katie Feeney to ESPN, Kenny Beecham and co to NBC, Barstool x Fox

On the surface, these looked like innovative creator x media deals but I believe this came from the want to fold into structure

• Solo creating is exhausting. Between editing, posting, managing the business, dealing with freelancers. Creators are going to want structure

• Thanks to these trailblazers above, businesses will allow creators to stay creative

• Most solo creators are that…creators…not businesspeople.

What will happen: Creators will sacrifice a little bit of their upside and freedom to spend more time working with others and to have some structure and stability

Who wins?: Both sides. Creators because they don’t burn out, have access to more resources, feel connected and inspired again. Brands because they figure out how to drive meaningful attention in 2026.

5. On3 is the breakout company of 2026

If you’re not familiar with On3, they are “the best resource for college and high school sports, recruiting and NIL” (according to their website)

The eruption of college sports, most notably college football, is leaving an incredible opportunity in the market

• On3 focuses on the most highly engaged fan bases

• Are building the right brand to be highly respected in the space

• Delivering insider information and value add content that people will pay for

What will happen: College sports fans will go to On3 for their CFB news, not ESPN

3 things I read this week

1. Long Degeneracy

   1. This twitter thread went mega viral. It’s worth a read to understand how my generation feels.

2. Don’t fall into the trap

   1. This is a comment on the above and I found the response to be equally as important. I will comment on the two pieces in a later newsletter.

3. Smart Brevity

   1. You will notice the format and style of the newsletter in 2026 has changed. That’s in great part to this super quick yet majorly impactful read. Anyone trying to get better at communication must read.

Monday Mailbag

Question 1: Do viewership #s shift to another league or does the NFL remain king? - @lincathomas/x

Answer 1: “All” viewership numbers are up because they started measuring with some bullshit to sell to advertisers.

NFL will remain king in 2026 but college football will continue to become a more serious player. 

Sports fans tune in for stories and CFB has the best of ‘em right now.

Question 2: With all your experience going to campuses for Snapback Saturdays, what is the biggest opportunity for universities (or pro sports) to improve the fan experience? - Alex Kopilow, LinkedIn

Answer 2: The biggest opportunity is for a mindset shift from: these fans are going to show up to watch the game → to how do we put on the best show for them.

Look at how the Savannah Bananas think about their “show”

Coastal Carolina offered free concessions at football games. They released glow in the dark uniforms and made the fans at the game part of the experience.

Can you get fans in the seats even when the product on the field/court is bad?

Question 3: What do you think will come of prediction markets and their relationship with sports? - Scott Budkofsky, LinkedIn

Answer 3: I love products that help tell stories and in a perfect world, PMs are one of those products. Imagine after last night’s game 💔 if Tirico and Collinsworth had shown a PM graph. Because they’re markets, they should be a better representation of truth than odds

Submit your questions for next week

My goal for 2026:

Write this newsletter once a week and release it every Monday at 12pm EST

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