The Ever-Expanding Arena of the Sports Media Market
Audio, Digital, Out-of-Home, Video, Brand Partnerships
July 20, 2026
The biggest lesson to draw from the massive success of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ is that the world of sports, while already the leading advertising property, still has room to grow.
With unprecedented viewership numbers across both streaming and broadcast TV during FIFA World Cup 2026™, one answer is clear: major sports tentpoles continue to rule the media landscape.
Live sports remain one of our last truly communal experiences. We published this insight at the start of 2026 and it’s even more true today: Live sports continue to deliver what advertisers value most: scale, attention, and immediacy.
With that knowledge out there, you could be excused for thinking the market was operating at its peak. Look at how saturated the North American landscape appears: Hockey, baseball, football and basketball all feature multiple leagues fiercely competing for Canadian attention, not to mention stalwarts like golf, tennis and the Olympics.
Prior to this year, soccer had been growing audiences steadily in North America. But the World Cup took the data to new heights in a dramatic leap forward. The engagement numbers from the tournament were epic. The biggest hype was for peak viewership, and it was substantial: Canadian matches reached upwards of 7.6M viewers, peaking at 10.2M viewers.1 Those are amazing numbers.
But the real proof that there’s room for growth is how much the entire tournament resonated, not just at peak:
- Sustained Viewership: Canadian matches featured reaches upwards of 2.8M viewers at any given minute, peaking at 4.9M viewers at any given minute.2
- National Reach: 69% of all Canadians tuned into the tournament.3
- Sustained Attention: An average of 2.2M viewers watched non-Canadian matches daily.4
Sports properties outside the games offer superior targeting
At Bell Media, we know the future of sports content lives in both the games and the cultural conversations they generate.
While live tentpoles remain the ultimate scale buy, adjacent content like Crave’s hit show Heated Rivalry or the up-and-coming NFL podcast Film Never Lies offers highly targeted, cost-effective attention. Both paths allow advertisers to engage specific audiences, backed by superior targeting from our first-party data.
The lesson here is that opportunities to engage specific, adjacent audiences are expanding along with the tentpoles in the category itself, often at more affordable price points.
The next big win is women’s sports
The next massive sports success story is already here. The entire women’s sports category is taking flight.
The window to capitalize on it is closing fast, as the data clearly shows:
- Explosive Valuation: Deloitte Global projects the women’s elite sports market will hit $3B in 2026—up 340% since 2022.
- Unmatched ROI: An Australian study shows that every $1 spent by a corporate sponsor generates $7 in customer value.
- Rapid Deal Growth: Sponsorship deals in professional women’s sports rose 22% in 2024 and 12% in 2025.
- The Closing Window: 82% of brands currently sponsoring female athletes plan to aggressively increase their spending, according to the Bank of America institute.
- In Canada, the Time is Now: The women’s sports market has doubled in two years in Canada, according to the report It’s Time: Leading the New Era of Growth. Canada’s pro women’s sport market surged to “$380–$400M in 2025 and is on track to reach $570M by 2030.” The report concludes “early, strategic investors will win.”
Expansion means new opportunities to get in on the ground floor still exist.
Putting it all together: What to do now?
The ultimate lesson from this unprecedented surge in viewership is that the ceiling for sports engagement hasn’t been reached — the entire room has expanded.
From the record-breaking scale of global tentpoles to the explosive commercial rise of women’s sports and the deep engagement possibilities of sports-adjacent content, the ecosystem has a place for everyone.
For advertisers, the strategic takeaway is that the definition of a “sports buy” must grow to match this rapid sports growth.
Invest in the established heavyweights? Our first party data shows that’s always a solid choice. Bet on the surging power of women’s sports? All signs say go. Buy up adjacent content to target specific markets? Smart play: let the data tell you where to land. Weave your brand through all formats to achieve cultural consciousness and massive reach?
It is all entirely doable right now. And if you’re not sure how to make the most of the opportunity? Bell Media’s first party data helps create clear pathways that point to the most effective purchase for you.
One final realization that needs to be made: Understand this is a particular moment in time for the sports landscape. It won’t last forever. But if brands act quickly, they can capture a piece of the sports fanbase that is growing larger than ever before — and then grow along with it.
[1] Source: Numeris, Total Canada, TSN+ Com Total, 2026-06-11 to 2026-07-09, Preliminary Data
[2] Source: Numeris, Total Canada, TSN+ Com Total, 2026-06-11 to 2026-07-09, Preliminary Data
[3] Source: Numeris, Total Canada, TSN+ Com Total, 2026-06-11 to 2026-07-09, % of Total TV, Preliminary Data
[4] Source: Numeris, Total Canada, TSN+ Com Total, 2026-06-11 to 2026-07-09, Preliminary Data
