IMG’s three sports sponsorship trends to watch in 2026 Sport Business Look out for higher demands on AI, more prediction markets and greater sophistication in women’s sport sponsorships next year, says IMG partnerships expert Sam Galet. As we close out 2025 and look ahead to 2026, the sports business landscape is once again at an inflection point. Rightsholders, brands and agencies are all asking the same [...]
Why 2025 in sport marketing was the year that changed everything Sport Business For much of the last decade, sports marketing followed a familiar script: globalisation, digital scale and steadily inflating rights fees. In 2025, that script broke. This year forced brands, rights-holders and investors to confront harder truths about attention, technology and value, and in doing so, it reset how sport is bought, sold and measured. From [...]
WTA and Mercedes-Benz pen decade-long deal said to be worth $500m Sport Business The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) has penned a decade-long partnership agreement with Mercedes-Benz believed to be worth as much as $500m (£376m). The deal, announced at the Mercedes factory in Stuttgart with WTA co-founder Billie Jean King and 20-time grand slam winner Roger Federer in attendance, will see the automotive behemoth become a “premier partner” [...]
Earps fiasco at least sparks much needed debate on culture of women’s sport November 6, 2025 Mary Earps has hit the headlines this week, and provoked a conversation about culture in women’s football “Things have escalated really quickly today, women pitted against each other. It’s gut-wrenching to be portrayed as someone you’re not. I know that the negative is what gets clicks, but it’s sad that’s the only thing being discussed.” [...]
Pitch Experiences CEO: Women’s sport changing approach to hospitality October 19, 2025 Pitch Experiences CEO Neil Bailey discusses how a surge in popularity for women’s sport has encouraged a new approach to hospitality. Having worked in sport and the media for over twenty years, I’ve seen first-hand how much the game has changed – from the rise of the Premier League to the changing face of cricket [...]
Apple kits out WSL teams with latest MacBooks, iPads and iPhones October 16, 2025 Apple is giving Women’s Super League clubs a range of its latest MacBooks, iPads and iPhones worth thousands of pounds as part of a new partnership with the competition. Coaches and other performance staff will be able to use the MacBook Pros and iPads to perform and share video analysis of matches and training sessions. [...]
London hailed as global capital for women’s sport as 1.4m visit October 8, 2025 London has been hailed as a global epicentre for women’s sport after the Red Roses, Queen’s Club, the Lionesses and athletics all contributed to 1.4m fans attending events in the capital. Nearly 82,000 fans packed in to Allianz Stadium in Twickenham last month to watch England beat Canada to win a first Women’s Rugby World [...]
Mitsubishi, Emirates and Mastercard enjoy Women’s Rugby World Cup lift September 29, 2025 England’s Red Roses weren’t the only winners at the Women’s Rugby World Cup; sponsors Mitsubishi Electric, Emirates and Mastercard all enjoyed major boosts from the tournament. Mitsubishi saw a 60 per cent increase in online engagement as a result of its partnership with the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which hosts England won on Saturday in [...]
Women’s sport leagues, not teams, are the new investment frontier September 27, 2025 Much like England’s women’s rugby team, women’s sport is on a winning streak. Record-breaking crowds at this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, Hundred attendance milestones, and rising broadcast deals in basketball all point to the same shift: the commercial gap with men’s sport is closing, fast. For years, many investors dismissed women’s leagues as worthy [...]
Women’s Rugby World Cup has shown ROI potential of women’s sport September 26, 2025 On Saturday afternoon 82,000 fans will pack into Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium for the Women’s Rugby World Cup final. A fully professional England Red Roses team will win their first title in a decade if they’re able to overcome a Canada side who were forced to crowdfund more than £500,000 just to get to the World [...]