Know the space and plan early for 2026 sporting events: A media buyer’s perspective

The 2025 US Open just ended. The NFL is about to lock in for football season, and the Winter Olympics are revving up. Next summer, the World Cup will be all the rage.

It seems the sports season never stops — neither does planning ahead for media buying.

A holding company media buyer, who requested to remain on background, told Campaign that when it came to media buying in the past, agencies and their clients had to plan ahead by around six to eight months. Recently, conversations regarding media buying for massive sporting events have started at least one year in advance. 

“If you were a client that traditionally expects to negotiate your placement in the summer, now you know you could be left out in the cold from the game,” the individual said.

International sports events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, have led to streaming platforms selling out faster than ever before.

“This isn’t a trend,” the media buyer said. “This is the reality of the future, and it requires specific, targeted planning around it.”

More platforms = More time

Last week, NBCUniversal revealed that this football season is its highest grossing, selling out 90% of its NFL inventory. The media company also said it has sold out of all ad inventory for Super Bowl LX.

That’s just one streaming platform to watch the U.S.’ most popular sport. Nowadays, there are seemingly endless options for what to watch football on.

“Ten years ago, you’re looking at four to five properties, [for the NFL alone],” the holding company media buyer told Campaign. “Now, you’re looking at almost 10, depending on what you include there.”

The media buyer added the “fragmentation” of sports when it comes to streaming — such as only being able to watch one sport on one platform and another sport on a separate platform — has been an “imperfect” solution for engaging with consumers. Additionally, this “fragmentation” has also made the process of media buying more difficult.

“Clients and their strategy [have] to adapt to increas[ing] visibility across many different vendors,” the individual explained, “versus what traditionally could have been done across maybe one or two now as three or four.”

As a result, the media buyer said that, from an advertiser standpoint, clients have to “lean on their agencies” in order to ensure that conversations with potential vendors occur in all the right places at the right time.

“It’s really difficult for the consumers to find the content they want to look for,” the individual said. “Not just finding it, but accessing it based on firewalls and paywalls and whatnot. It means that sometimes, consumers don’t have access to some of the [sports] games they want to consume as well.”

Properly timed

Because planning ahead for media buying in sports has to occur even more in advance than it used to, understanding the investment marketplace is increasingly essential, the holding company media buyer told Campaign. 

The individual also emphasized that agencies need to communicate said understanding with their clients so they don’t lose out on larger tentpoles due to timing.

“That all starts with information, and also the proper planning strategies that go into that,” the media buyer explained. “All [of] those are done well in advance, especially around tentpole moments [where] there’s too much money invested.”

Other variables

Besides timing and the increase in streaming platforms, there are other factors that can alter one’s media buying strategy for the sports industry. The holding company media buyer told Campaign that it can depend on the client and type of campaign. For example, an advertiser who frequently engages with consumers or within a space may have a more detailed, complex media plan. 

“Your mix of your plan changes depending on and is scaled or extended based on the needs of the campaign,” the person explained. “That changes depending on the actual client.”

The media plan can also change depending on what is specifically being purchased, such as social or OOH. For some plans, it may be more challenging to secure inventory ahead of time.

“The timetables are definitely different,” the media buyer said. “Unless you know if you want to engage in official channels, there’s certainly timing that comes into that. When you’re talking about premium sports inventory, that’s selling out quicker than ever.”

Overall, the individual said, these semi-recent changes in the process of media buying aren’t going away anytime soon (at least, in the sports world).

“The impact and the importance of sports to clients that even traditionally didn’t take place or participate in sports properties in a major way, are all now [realizing] the need for those tentpole opportunities and the need to be in the highest-rated, most conversational properties out there,” they continued. “That’s really what sports is.”