Sports fans are subscription-frustrated – in the US 65% say it’s a hassle that sports content is fragmented across multiple subscription services. Enter sportstainment AI-personalised super-apps: all-in-one homes for live coverage, exclusive commentary and interviews, docu-series, behind-the-scenes material, social-media features and shopping. We introduce two game-changing arrivals.

Sports fans want inside scoops: in America, Europe and India 82% want more exclusive in-app and direct messaging content from journalists and athletes. New apps are providing access and intel alongside space to mingle with fellow fans, from live game punditry within the intimacy of group chats, to a first-of-its-kind home for athlete-to-fan direct messaging.

Docuseries remain a major opportunity – 40% of people globally watch sports docuseries every month. The key opportunities lie in subgenres rooted in human interest and behind-the-curtain perspectives, including high-octane reality-TV-adjacent formats, personal journey epics focusing on athletes personal lives, shorter-form athlete profiles and underdog adversary arcs.

Globally, 64% of sports fans now consume game highlights frequently. This massive appetite for high-drama, heart-thumping reels of key game moments is generating its own mini-sector of highlight-conjuring production possibilities. We introduce two leading companies.

In the US, 40% of sports fans actively collect sports memorabilia, transforming the once-outmoded hobby into a tenet of cool. Nurtured by a strengthening new-gen collectible culture scene IRL and on web3, key buzz-generating directions include a new hype-tastic collectibles convention and on-blockchain fantasy sports spin.

For many, sports fandom is a lifestyle: a quarter of UK sports fans say it’s a key part of their identity. It’s valorising storied sporting subcultures via magazines, online journals and newsletters, blending aesthetic artistry with editorial clout, and also answering calls for ‘off-feed’ alternatives to video-heavy social media diets (see #8 in Pop Culture Primer 2025).

Even as the world wakes up to women’s sports – see Women’s Sports Boom for more – there are still deep pockets of untapped sportstainment potential, including in saturated sectors like podcasting and social media. Lesser-known player-podcasters and athlete-influencers are ready to be pushed into the mainstream for increasingly keen sports fans.

Valued at $3.8bn in 2024, the immersive sports entertainment market (covering XR tools in-person and at home) is expected to reach $15.6bn by 2030. We highlight top in-routes, including in-stadium AR to heighten fan participation, pitch side-level excitement conjured at home via VR, and a new VR-IRL hybrid golf tournament heightening atmospherics.