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SBJ’s Ethan Joyce surveys industry executives on the biggest sports tech trends for 2026, with responses overwhelmingly pointing to the convergence of AI and data to drive hyper-personalization and workflow efficiency. Key takeaways…

➤ Next League Chief Digital Officer Shripal Shah predicts a "real adoption jump will come when AI stops being a side window and becomes part of the workflow for ticketing and sponsorship. Think: drafting partner briefs, building decks, summarizing calls, pulling next steps, and producing weekly ROI recaps — all tied directly to CRM plus inventory/rights systems. The winners won’t be the flashiest models. They’ll be the tools that fit into daily operations, approvals, and governance.” 

➤ Playmaker Software CEO Hannah Sorkin warns the "honeymoon phase" is over for AI: “In 2026, sports organizations will stop asking, ‘are we using AI?’ and start asking, ‘is our AI actually making us better?’ Expect a consolidation wave as teams realize they can’t manage 15 different AI point solutions and demand platforms that create workflow integration, not workflow disruption.” 

➤ Fancam/CrowdIQ VP Katherine Rowe notes rightsholders will increasingly pull data ownership back in-house after years of outsourcing "understanding" along with analytics. 

➤ On the fan experience front, Paciolan President Brendan Lynch argues fans will “expect schools to speak to them with their whole history as context. If I’m a donor or a season ticket holder and you don’t acknowledge that, you are not respecting my participation in the community.” More. (link)

Meanwhile, Marketing Brew’s Alyssa Meyers, Jasmine Sheena, Jennimai Nguyen, Katie Hicks, and Kristina Monllos surveyed CMOs from brands like Duolingo, Chili’s, and Dr. Squatch on the most "overlooked" trends of 2025, revealing a collective pivot toward authentic engagement over "shiny tech." Here’s what you should know…

➤ Duolingo CMO Manu Orssaud urged brands to let fan feedback "guide where the brand goes next," while Chili’s CMO George Felix emphasized avoiding the "boom-splat" of viral moments by building operational foundations that convert buzz into loyalty: “When someone sees the Triple Dipper all over TikTok and decides to come into Chili’s, we have the opportunity to build loyalty with great food, great value, and a memorable experience. The brands winning today have to build the foundation…to make sure any viral momentum actually shows up in their business. It’s a partnership built on marketing bringing guests in, and operations bringing them back.” 

➤ Dr. Squatch Director of Brand Marketing Irv Slobodskaya champions "things that don’t scale," like physically putting product in hands, noting: "I can’t tell you the number of people I’ve converted by just giving them a product to try." 

➤ Mint Mobile CMO Andrew Fried argues for brands taking a stand: "In order to be loved by some, you need to be hated by others, and in order to make sure that, especially in crowded spaces, people know what you’re for, they also need to know what you’re against. … A lot of companies [are] trying to be all things to all people, instead of having a clear point of view that is specific to a specific audience.” (link)

Zach Dayton (Fairfield AVP/Deputy AD) welcomed Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to discuss the shifting landscape of collegiate athletics. The conversation touched on the founding of NACMA, the increasing complexity of revenue generation, and the leadership required to manage teams across multiple generations.

➤ The Palace Project’s Strategic Design: Castiglione detailed the renovation of the stadium’s west side—a necessity for a facility over 100 years old. The project focuses on a "something for everyone" philosophy, balancing state-of-the-art Founder's Suites with upgrades to the video and sound systems designed to "juice up your senses" and elevate the game day experience for the entire fanbase.

➤ Evaluating Private Equity: While acknowledging that it would be unwise to "rule anything out," Castiglione noted he hasn't yet seen a PE model that works for individual institutions. He characterized PE as "very expensive money," highlighting the significant trade-off of potentially surrendering rights for monetization to outside firms.

➤ Validation Through Investor Interest: Despite his caution, Castiglione views PE interest as a powerful cultural signal. He remarked that the desire for firms to invest proves that college sports has great value and that the industry’s untapped opportunities for growth should excite everybody as they continue to explore new ways to monetize at both the campus and conference levels.

CLICK HERE for the episode.

JohnWallStreet analyzes reports that the NFL is exploring a consolidation of its ticketing business into a league-owned platform upon the March 2027 expiration of current deals with Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and SI Tickets. SECUTIX CEO Frédéric Longatte argues that such a move mirrors the European model used by UEFA and FIFA and allows rights holders to regain command of the secondary market: "At the moment, there are a lot of actors in the U.S. making a lot of money that should rightfully either be distributed to the franchise or league, or to the benefit of the fan." In Europe, Longatte adds: “You don’t have a dominant [third-party] distributor, like Ticketmaster.” Instead, there are “regional and national distributors.” Beyond capturing the 6-12% fees typically charged by distributors, Longatte highlights the value of data ownership and the ability to bundle tickets with merchandise or insurance to create a "small Amazon experience," which he claims can easily increase customer spending by 10-15%. “By controlling ticketing, rights owners can trace all of their tickets and get all that related fan data under their control. Meaning knowing where the ticket is, whose hand it is in at all times, and which value transacts.” (link)

Following weeks of "withering criticism" over exorbitant pricing, FIFA has introduced a new "Supporter Entry Tier" for the 2026 World Cup with a fixed price of $60 per match; however, Front Office Sports’ Eric Fisher points out that inventory is extremely limited, restricted to roughly 500 seats per team per match and allocated as 10% of the total ticket allotment given to each Participating Member Association. Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which previously called the pricing structure "extortionate" and estimated a single fan would need $6,900 to follow a team to the final, welcomed the move but warned "the revisions do not go far enough," as the vast majority of tickets remain dynamically priced at levels five times higher than Qatar 2022. (link)

The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay critiques the "accelerating cost" of live sports, arguing that professional leagues have made an "unbothered short-term choice to chase peak revenue against the clear risk of pricing out their most loyal fans." Gay points to the 2026 World Cup ticketing rollout as a prime example of the "mad landscape" of dynamic pricing, noting that nosebleed seats for the USMNT opener hit $2,735 and the "get-in" price for the final in New Jersey reached $4,185. He warns that treating the tournament as a "luxe, bucket list feat" rather than a catalyst for fandom risks ruining the atmosphere: "The hazard of a fancy crowd, of course, is that a fancy crowd is a blah crowd. which is standard at a Super Bowl, but lame for a World Cup. The greatest asset of this North America extravaganza is that the three host nations are so vast that every participating nation can draw a passionate, knowledgeable crowd. Anything that stands in the way of that energy is a mistake. It’s the best part of the event.” (link) 

The Atlanta Braves are adding six private, open-air boxes in left field at Truist Park for the 2026 season, continuing an eight-figure investment into outfield fan experiences. Take a look at the renderings. (link)

Goldman Sachs is leading a $168M loan package for English Premier League side Crystal Palace to refinance existing debt and help fund the redevelopment of Selhurst Park. Bloomberg’s David Hellier reports the new deal replaces a previous loan secured against broadcast income, offering more favorable terms and a longer repayment period tied to the stadium project, which aims to increase capacity from roughly 26K to 34K. While initially projected at over £100M, the expansion costs have reportedly swelled past £150M due to inflation and site complexities. (link)

Dozens of independent fly-fishing shops are dropping or reducing orders from Simms Fishing Products, once a revered brand for its high-quality waders, citing squeezed profit margins and deteriorating relationships following ownership changes. After being acquired by Vista Outdoor for $192.5M in 2022 and subsequently sold to private equity firm Strategic Value Partners (SVP) in Jan. 2025 as part of a $1.1B spinoff, Simms shifted toward direct-to-consumer sales and big-box partnerships, alienating small dealers who faced non-negotiable pricing terms and supply chain failures. John Flick, co-owner of Duranglers in Colorado, canceled his orders after a $120K shipment for a key April event arrived months late, stating: "It got to a point where these people didn’t give a f—." TrackFly Founder/CEO Stephen Baird adds: “There’s no secret that over the last several years, private equity has had its eyes on the outdoor industry. When we look at what’s happening across an industry like fly-fishing, it is a juggle between growth and holding onto that romantic passion.” (link)

Marketing Brew’s Alyssa Meyers takes a look at Oakley’s strategic pivot into flag football as a vehicle to reach younger, female consumers, diversifying a customer base that has historically skewed older and male. VP and Head of Global Sports Marketing Corey Hill explains flag football offers a "culture of eyewear" inherited from 7-on-7 circuits that tackle football (with helmets) lacks, creating a clear promotional path for products like HyperGrip technology. “We felt like it’s a great space for us to continue to cultivate that opportunity with a new audience.” Since partnering with the NFL on flag initiatives and becoming the official eyewear partner of USA Football, Oakley has seen double-digit engagement growth among youth demographics over the past three years. Meyers points out that “while flag football doesn’t have the reach of the NFL, this summer’s championships aired on platforms including ABC, ESPN Deportes, and Disney+, and games reached a total of 7.7M fans, up 65% from last year’s tournament.” To deepen this connection ahead of the sport's Olympic debut in LA28, the brand launched the Oakley Icon Alliance tournament series to provide girls with a "premium-level experience" comparable to boys' events, complete with recovery stations and streaming coverage. (link)

Elevate has acquired design firms Downstream and GA Group, expanding its Elevate Creative division to over 250 employees globally. Newly appointed Elevate Creative President Chris Allphin tells SBJ’s Bret McCormick: “Big picture, we’re big believers in what everybody is calling the experiential economy. We’ve seen the trends; spending on luxury goods is way down; spending on luxury experiences is way up. The same customer who goes to a stadium we design is staying in a world-class hotel in that same city. We want to touch the entire experience.” McCormick explains the move integrates sports venue design with broader hospitality and brand work, leveraging Downstream's roster of clients like Google and Nike and GA's expertise in luxury hotels. While financial terms were not disclosed, Allphin emphasized the strategic fit: "We are not a private equity shop trying to roll them up. This is everybody under the same tent, rowing the same direction." (link)