From the Milan Winter Olympics to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the next Super Bowl, live sports continue to command global attention. Broadcast and streaming companies that align rights strategy, ad sales execution, and revenue management technology will unlock the full value of live sports. Success depends not just on who airs the game, but on who has systems in place to maximize every impression across every screen.

Live sports have always been premium inventory. Today, it’s also one of the fastest-growing and most strategically important revenue drivers across broadcast, streaming, and hybrid distribution models.

Since January 2024, sports content has increased 52% across five global subscription streaming platforms — Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Disney+ (which includes Hulu). At the same time, sports programming on FAST channels has grown 30% worldwide.

That growth represents more than just an increase in content volume. It also represents an increase in monetization opportunities.

For TV broadcasters and streaming platforms, live sports remain the most reliable engine for ad demand, pricing power, and cross-platform yield optimization.

The Super Bowl Proves the Point

On February 8, 2026, an estimated 124.9 million viewers watched Super Bowl LX across broadcast and streaming on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel measurement. That number surged to 128.2 million during the halftime show featuring Bad Bunny.

For ad sales teams, these numbers reinforce a fundamental truth: no other type of programming consistently delivers the simultaneous reach of live sports. Broadcast remains unmatched for tentpole events, driving premium CPMs and guaranteed brand impact. But even for regular season games, layering in streaming distribution extends reach, adds incremental impressions, and enables addressable monetization.

Rights Deals Reflect Revenue Confidence, Amateur and Pro Sports Alike

NBCUniversal paid the International Olympic Committee $7.75 billion for U.S. rights to six Olympic Games between 2014 and 2032. In 2024, the companies announced a $3 billion extension through 2036, bringing the average cost to $1.34 billion per Olympics across eight Games.

Viewership trends justify the investment. The 2026 Winter Olympics averaged 23.5 million viewers across NBCUniversal and Versant platforms, nearly double the 12 million average for the 2022 Winter Games. The gold medal women’s hockey game between the U.S. and Canada drew 5.3 million viewers, a record for women’s hockey.

Women’s pro sports are proving to be equally popular – and profitable. In 2024, the WNBA secured an 11-year, $2.2 billion deal with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon, a landmark agreement reflecting the accelerating value of women’s sports. The number of women’s soccer fans in the U.S. has grown 10% in the past two years, and 37% of Americans expect their interest in soccer to rise ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

These rights deals represent growing audiences, but they also represent an increase in premium inventory across both linear and digital.

Regular Season Games Move the Needle

Live sports doesn’t just create tentpole spikes like the Olympics or the World Cup. Pro sports leagues’ regular season games can also create seasonal shifts in viewing behavior.

Just one example: in September 2025, the return of National Football League football drove a 20% month-over-month increase in broadcast television viewership. Unsurprisingly, the NFL is rumored to have plans to opt out of its current $110 billion, 11-year broadcast deals with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC, after the 2029 season, with YouTube and Netflix already in talks to get in on the regular season action.

Hybrid Distribution: The Revenue Multiplier

Today’s major rights agreements are structured around hybrid distribution. Broadcast delivers scale and cultural dominance; streaming delivers targeting, interactivity, and measurable performance; and FAST delivers incremental reach and sponsorship extensions.

For ad sales organizations, this means inventory can no longer be siloed by platform. It must be managed holistically, including:

• Unified forecasting across linear and digital
• Dynamic ad insertion and addressable execution
• Cross-platform sponsorship packaging
• Real-time yield optimization
• Consolidated reporting tied to advertiser outcomes

The expansion of live sports on subscription streaming (up 52%) and FAST (up 30%) underscores a competitive reality: supply is growing but so is fragmentation. Holistic, cross-platform revenue management is the best way to maximize the value of that growing supply while minimizing the challenges created by fragmentation.

Revenue Management Is Strategic Infrastructure

As rights costs climb into the billions and fragmentation divides both audiences and revenue, margin protection becomes a critical component of growth. Modern revenue management systems must support:

• Platform-specific pricing strategies
• Flexible cross-platform packaging across regular season and playoff games, including shoulder programming
• Real-time adjustments during high-demand moments
• Advanced measurement integration (consolidated linear and streaming)
• Clear visibility into sell-through and under-delivery risk

The key to sports monetization today is dynamic optimization to maximize both revenue and advertiser outcomes.

Contact us to learn how WO Fusion can help you maximize revenue across every screen.