on LinkedIn<\/a> to see what we are most looking forward to in women\u2019s sports in 2026. <\/p>\nWe all tackled it with a Type A energy of nailing a group project that I can truly appreciate. Here\u2019s what I heard from around the industry (edited for length):<\/p>\n
Basketball at the forefront<\/p>\n
Leela Srinivasan, CEO of Parity: \u201cI\u2019m intrigued to see who wins the women\u2019s basketball wars. 2026 is crunch time. With the WNBA currently negotiating the new CBA, along with competing leagues and platforms like Unrivaled and Project B that are both drawing from the same pool of top athletes and upping the stakes in terms of player compensation and incentives, the sport is entering a period of transformation domestically and internationally. When you layer in the fact that many more players now have growing, loyal followings, significant media exposure, and potent marketing power, the next few months could redefine the structure, commercial potential and balance of power in women\u2019s basketball for years to come.\u201dHaley Rosen, CEO and founder of Just Women\u2019s Sports: \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing how women\u2019s college basketball continues to flourish and grow. The sheer parity and competitiveness is the best it\u2019s ever been, there\u2019s more household names among both athletes and coaches, and we\u2019ve already seen the Final Four prove that it can be as big as the men\u2019s. In contrast to the relationship between the NBA and men\u2019s college basketball, the women have proven they can consistently develop the next generation of professional stars from the collegiate level.\u201dCarol Stiff, president of Women\u2019s Sports Network: \u201cWNBA and CBA agreement, and will there be a new commissioner named, or will Adam [Silver] take over? Will the WNBA move the CT Sun to an existing NBA home market? If not Boston, where? At what cost? How will the league improve officiating?\u201dPaul Hlavaty, adviser at Wild Horse Sports Management: \u201cBeyond the WNBA expansion and CBA contract, how does the league position itself against competitors like Project B and, to a lesser extent, Unrivaled? While their seasons currently do not overlap, if the WNBA\u2019s strategic decisions falter, could the league lose power, resulting in players capturing more of the overall value or worse competitors gaining ground? I am keenly interested in observing how this competitive dynamic evolves. The WNBA has the resources to recover from allowing its moat to dry up, but it still could be an exciting match.\u201dNatalie Bradin, reporter at Atlanta Business Chronicle: \u201cWNBA CBA negotiations!\u201d<\/p>\n
Sponsorship space continues evolving<\/p>\n
Thayer Lavielle, managing director of The Collective: \u201cFrom the conversations we\u2019re having around the world, 2026 just feels different. With the Winter Olympics before us, the run-up to LA28, and a Women\u2019s World Cup in 2027 not to mention the NIL wave reshaping athlete power, the momentum isn\u2019t theoretical anymore. It\u2019s reshaping the entire ecosystem. It gives women athletes more leverage, more visibility and more ways to build real economic security. And for brands, it\u2019s the smartest time to lean in: bigger stages, stronger storytelling and athletes who convert better than anyone else. 2026 is a year of massive, global acceleration for women\u2019s sports.\u201dEmily Sisson, EVP of growth, North America at Octagon: \u201c2026 is about building the foundation for two of the biggest moments in women\u2019s sports history, the 2027 Women\u2019s World Cup and LA28. Brands investing early will have time to build credibility and community ahead of these important events. White space strategy is essential. Brands will win by identifying specific, meaningful white spaces rather than entering the women\u2019s sports category broadly. On that, engaged audiences can immediately tell who\u2019s adding value and has genuine knowledge vs. who\u2019s showing up with generic messaging.\u201dGina Waldhorn, CMO at Sports Innovation, a Genius Sports company: \u201cIn 2026, women\u2019s sports will embrace the same modern ad-tech tools that have transformed other media categories. Teams and leagues are bringing in leaders who know how to use data to reach fans more effectively, unlock new types of inventory, and prove the measurable impact of every campaign. As performance becomes easier to see and scale, brands will realize just how powerful this space is and they will invest even more.\u201dStephanie Marciano, head of sports and entertainment marketing at Ally: \u201cI\u2019m excited about the 2026 Winter Olympics \u2014 specifically what they can do for women\u2019s hockey and the PWHL as that league heads into an Olympic cycle with momentum,\u00a0infrastructure and fan investment already in place. With the surge across women\u2019s sports overall, the next three years of global competition with the Winter Olympics, World Cup and Summer Olympics in LA are going to accelerate growth across audiences and investment. We\u2019re also on-track to meet Ally\u2019s 50\/50 pledge in 2026, a year ahead of schedule. So, of course, I\u2019m thrilled to approach that milestone and continue showing up for athletes and fans in meaningful ways from there. Women\u2019s sports provide amazing opportunities for brands to make real impact while benefitting their business. I\u2019d like\u00a0to see more Fortune 500 companies getting in the game in 2026.”Dave Gaspar, partner and head of innovation at Gather: \u201cMoving into 2026, expect to see the rise of multi-league women\u2019s portfolios. We will see more Fortune 500 brands opt for the \u2018triple-play\u2019 approach with the 3 major women\u2019s sports leagues [WNBA + NWSL + PWHL], currently we are only seeing that from Pepsi via Gatorade. Why? Because it is time for brands to stop treating women\u2019s leagues in silos and start treating women\u2019s sports as a single, addressable market. The next phase of growth for women\u2019s sports comes from new industries and new involvement, not just more deals. Currently, only 67 of the Fortune 500 companies are involved in women\u2019s sports, but by the end of next year, expect that number to be closer to 100. Sponsorship deals will start to be long term investments, not just the one-year-pilot deals we are seeing now. Ultimately, this will increase urgency from brands to invest, which will continue to drive the value of teams and leagues up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soccer up for growth<\/p>\n
Francie Gottsegen, president of the North Carolina Courage: \u201cWomen\u2019s soccer is in the middle of a new era of investment, visibility, and prominence and the North Carolina Courage are right at the center of that growth. From expanding our fan base to record numbers to elevating the player experience and tapping into unprecedented national interest, 2026 represents a defining moment. It\u2019s a year where the Courage will continue to help lead the evolution of the women\u2019s game.\u201d Karan Lodha, managing editor, USC Annenberg Media: \u201cFor 2026, I\u2019m very curious to see how the NWSL evolves as Denver and Boston join the league. Does the league revisit roster and salary structures to try to avoid players like Alyssa Thompson jump the pond? If so, how will clubs generate the additional revenue and resources to retain top talent?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emerging leagues and expansion <\/p>\n
Assia Grazioli-Venier, co-founder at Muse Capital: \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the inaugural Women\u2019s Pro Baseball League season finally giving women\u2019s baseball the platform, investment, and storytelling it has deserved forever. What excites me most is showcasing the talent. Once fans see the level of play, the market will do what it always does in women\u2019s sports: reward the product.\u201dMatt Drew, CRO at Unrivaled: \u201cThe main thing is Unrivaled season 2! That is going to be spectacular for our amazing players and fans alike. More broadly, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing even more fun, dynamic and innovative brand activations that highlight the unique proposition and outsized ROIs that female athletes can deliver.\u201dRaymond Morgan, Ray Morgan Films: \u201cWNBA\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udfff\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udfff\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udfff\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udfff expansion teams. Looking forward to seeing the Philly new team members and games.\u201dDenny Wilkins, retired St. Bonaventure journalism professor (and my old college adviser): \u201cThe expansion of women\u2019s collegiate volleyball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Media space continuing to change<\/p>\n
Susie Piotrkowski, ESPN VP\/women\u2019s sports programming & espnW: \u201cI am most excited for women\u2019s sports-specific content at a higher frequency and with more consistency. The barrier to entry to be a hardcore and NEW women sports fan is lowering \u2014 soon, it will be just as easy to be a women\u2019s sports fan as it is to be a men\u2019s sports fan. We aren\u2019t there yet \u2014 but with intentionality, we are getting there!!\u201dDeron Guidrey, co-founder at PlayersTV: \u201cNetworks and streamers are wising up to the demand for women\u2019s sports shoulder content, and this is going to create an arms race for talent. Athletes are incredible entertainers and highly influential for advertising purposes and are about to be more broadly recognized for this as media powerhouses.\u201dAshley France, consultant at REDD Sports Marketing Agency: \u201cAthlete owned media, integration of fashion and beauty into sports, more voices covering women\u2019s sports, and women ownership of women\u2019s teams … just to name a few.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fandom further evolving<\/p>\n
Danielle Donchetz, co-founder of Partake Sports: \u201cThe continued expansion of women\u2019s sports bars: these inclusive spaces are the hub of the women\u2019s sports community, and they are expected to double over the next year. Fans want to feel part of the excitement around the growth of women\u2019s sports, and tuning into a big game with others does just that. … At this point, women\u2019s sports has the attention of most people who are tuned into culture. The question all of us building in women\u2019s sports now have to ask ourselves is: How do we convert them from new fans to avid fans?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remember that thing about the notebook never being empty? I\u2019ve got a list of stories for 2026 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-340626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}