ZURICH—At a time when sports have become an increasingly lucrative offering for broadcasters and streamers, a new survey of senior sports executives and fans highlights trends and expectations that are likely to boost the industry’s prospects over the next year.
One topline result of the 7th edition of Altman Solon’s Global Sports Survey is that the sports sector is entering a new growth cycle, supported by strong industry confidence and changing fan viewing behavior.
Based on a survey of 250 senior global sports executives and 6,000 sports fans across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy, and France, 88% of executives told researchers that they are are optimistic about the sports sector’s outlook over the next 12 months, with 43% reporting a more positive view than last year.
Optimism is strongest among investors and tech and service providers, signaling continued capital inflows and innovation across the ecosystem.
That confidence is reinforced by fan behavior. Most notably, the survey found growing interest in sports viewing among younger viewers, who, in the past had lower viewing levels than older viewers, a trend that has prompted some concerns about the future of the sports industry.
The Altman Solon survey found, however, that sports viewing remains strong across age groups and continues to grow, most notably among 25–34-year-olds, where total consumption is the highest of any cohort and has increased 6% compared to three to five years ago.
This group watches over four hours of live sports per week, similar to older audiences, while consuming significantly more highlights and other non-live formats.
Among 18–34-year-olds, the shift is decisive: they spend nearly three times as much time on non-live formats as on live sports, underscoring that consumption is expanding beyond the linear live broadcast.
"Our findings support renewed optimism and challenge some of the narratives of recent years that younger generations won’t engage with sports content,” says David Dellea, partner at Altman Solon. “Younger fans simply consume differently, with streaming services and short-form content increasingly serving as their preferred gateway to sports content."
To engage fans in 2026, Altman Solon suggests sports executives and rights owners evolve toward a multi-format, multi-channel offering, as media consumption is no longer anchored in linear TV. Format preferences vary widely by age, requiring new approaches to fan engagement, rights packaging, licensing, and monetization. Younger fans, for example, are less likely to watch full live games: 39% of 18–24-year-olds typically watch the entire event, compared with 61% among fans aged 65 and over.
"We believe the industry is entering a new era of accelerated transformation, where the scale of opportunity matches the scale of change required to capture it,” says Matt Del Percio, associate partner at Altman Solon. “Sports monetization gains will be increasingly driven by leveraging fan and team data, not just live broadcasts.”
However, other findings from the survey point to a growing monetization challenge as consumption expands beyond live games, reinforcing the need for smarter packaging and differentiated offerings across formats and platforms.
At the same time, the rise of creator-led and AI-enabled content is enabling greater differentiation, creating new opportunities for rights owners and platforms to build value through smarter packaging and product innovation.
The survey also points to continued investment momentum across the broader sports economy, where annual operating spend supports a deep ecosystem of service and technology suppliers. Looking ahead, industry leaders expect investment to remain concentrated in teams and clubs while accelerating in services and sports tech, reflecting growing conviction in the infrastructure layer underpinning long-term fan engagement and revenue growth.
“Sports are evolving into a comprehensive, multi-tiered asset class,” says Christoph Sommer, associate partner at Altman Solon. “With premium assets scarce, we expect more capital to move toward mid-tier properties and the technology and services layer underpinning the sports economy.”
Altman Solon will release two additional chapters from the 7th Global Sports Survey in the coming weeks, focusing on Unlocking the Full Value of Sports IP and The Next Frontier for Sports Investment.
The full report is available here.
