Commentary

Streamers, Brands Reach Far and Wide for Sports Content

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 20, 2026

Content for women's sports leagues -- for example, the WNBA -- and other solid, mid-level sports programming are getting strong drafting from the overall strong interest in live sports TV from advertisers, brands and media channels.

A report from SponsorUnited says that in 2025, women’s sports leagues (including the WNBA, NWSL, WTA and LPGA) had a combined 5,372 deals sponsorship deals -- three-and-a-half times the growth rate of men’s sports leagues and sports programming.

Looking at the combined top two women sports leagues --- basketball’s WNBA and soccer’s NWSL -- total sponsorship spend has soared 33% in 2025 from the year before -- to $195 million.

This comes on the heels of a possible new media rights deals for the NFL, as well as NHL and Major League Baseball -- with higher valuation by team owners due to rising advertising/brand interests.

Looking beyond women’s sports, analysts are focusing on the $7.7 billion, exclusive seven-year deal Paramount Skydance made with UFC, the mixed-martial arts sport.

This caught analysts' interest because it showed a 100% increase from what ESPN made under a previous agreement -- coming to $1.1 billion per year from $550 million per year.

We don’t know the specific details of how UFC is trending currently in terms of advertising revenue. But surveys of consumer research suggest there is strong attraction.

A recent study of sports and streaming from Hub Entertainment Research shows 71% of avid UFC respondents giving thumbs up to the question “Does the new UFC deal with Paramount+ make you more likely to keep your subscription?”. Even casual fans gave it a 44% nod.

From Paramount’s perspective, a change was needed. The former UFC deal was at Disney’s older ESPN+ streaming platform, with a large pay-per-view component. It moved to one at Paramount, where the focus is mostly on streaming subscriptions and Paramount+, with some major events on CBS.

The pull of sports content from all available platforms (broadcast, PPV) to streaming will continue to a large extent. This will include major streaming platforms like Netflix.

Streaming platforms are expected to continue to reach for possible mid-level sports programming for “live” content.

This all points to streamers using sports as the centerpiece of a reinvention of what live broadcast stations and networks have been all about.