Welcome to a special year-end edition of MoneyCall, The Athletic’s sports-business cheat sheet. Want to receive MoneyCall straight to your email inbox? Just use this handy link for an easy sign-up or pass along to a friend or colleague who might enjoy it.)

Happy New Year! We previously discussed the biggest sports business storylines of 2025, so now it’s time to look ahead to 2026 in the industry, which will be dominated by big-ticket events: Olympics! World Cup! UFC at the White House!

In the spirit of the moment, I connected with a range of my colleagues at The Athletic for their sports business predictions:

World Cup

Despite the furor over FIFA’s pricing, the vast majority of World Cup tickets will sell. Yes, many diehard fans will be priced out, others will decide against traveling to the U.S. in its currently unwelcoming state and in-stadium atmospheres will suffer. But among casual American sports fans, there’s massive demand. They’ll fill stadiums, and I predict FIFA will surpass the $3B in revenue from ticketing and hospitality that it has budgeted. — Henry Bushnell

Olympics

The Winter Olympics will bounce back in a big way. The 2022 Beijing Olympics were a perfect storm for terrible viewership for NBC. A bad time zone, no fans watching the events, the usual competition with the NFL and other factors all led to record-low viewership for the U.S. broadcaster.

That should change in Milan-Cortina. NHL players are in the hockey tournament, Lindsey Vonn is back with a realistic shot at gold at age 41 and several other American stars are poised for a breakout moment. And right at the beginning of the February event, NBC can cross-promote via the Super Bowl. It won’t be Paris-level good, but expect a big Winter Games rebound. — Zack Pierce

WNBA

The season will start on time. I know, I know: In theory, this isn’t the boldest prediction, but considering how contentious the CBA talks between the league and its players’ union are right now, the WNBA beginning games in mid-May is far from certain. While I’m predicting an on-time opening, that doesn’t mean the offseason won’t feel significantly rushed. Here’s a second prediction: A new deal doesn’t get signed until March, forcing the expansion draft, historic free agency and college draft to all occur within a few weeks of each other. — Ben Pickman

NWSL

It has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years: a $240 million media-rights deal, $100 million-plus expansion fees and at least three more teams entering the league by 2028. However, I think 2026 is the year the NWSL might just get in its own way. The latest is the “High Impact Player” rule meant to try to keep Trinity Rodman, which might actually cause at least one big name to leave. — Emily Olsen

NFL

Three predictions: Another large jump in salary cap ($279 million was the figure for 2025, and it could be anywhere from $295-300 million in 2026). Preliminary talks towards an 18-game season (the NFLPA still needs to elect its full-time executive director, but once they’re in place, the owners will come calling). And the NFL reaches a new CBA with the referee association, expanding the pool of talent to develop and pull from, as well as stricter evaluation practices and more incentives. — Mike Jones

MLB

When the clock strikes midnight entering Dec. 2, 2026, Major League Baseball will be in a lockout once again. Free agency will be shut down, and there will be no Winter Meetings. During the last lockout, a deal was reached so that no regular-season games were ultimately missed. Will that be the case again? Sorry, that’s a 2027 question, and we are only offering predictions for 2026, but check back a year from now. — Evan Drellich

Global women’s soccer

In 2023, Angel City FC co-founder Julie Uhrman said the club would become “the first women’s team to have a billion-dollar valuation in five years.” After Alexis Ohanian bought Chelsea women this year, he had a bold prediction that they would become the first billion-dollar club. His investment brought Chelsea to roughly $200 million. If I am going to be equally as bullish, I think 2026 will see the first $500 million valuation. — Olsen

NBA

The NBA will announce the teams in its European league, and it will have some of the starriest franchise names on the continent. Real Madrid, Barcelona and a few other giants. Will it be enough to make the league a success? Who knows. But it’s a good start. — Mike Vorkunov

NHL

The next round of NHL expansion will begin to take shape in a more real way in 2026, as the league starts to accept $2 billion bids for the 33rd and 34th franchise. Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix are expected to lead the way as candidates and would begin play around 2030. — James Mirtle

College sports

Now that Utah has broken the private equity/capital seal with its impending deal with Otro Capital, the floodgates will open. We’ll place the over/under of significant deals between outside investors and schools or conferences at 10. — Matt Baker

Golf

The PGA Tour blows up its schedule. New CEO Brian Rolapp, in from the NFL, announces a massive shift in the tour schedule, potentially dropping from a bloated, 39-event schedule to a 20-tournament slate that starts after the Super Bowl. Exclusivity is the buzzword. — Brody Miller

Tennis

The lawsuit brought against the men’s and women’s tennis tours — and then the Grand Slams — started as a powerful but disparate collection of allegations. It will likely conclude in individual settlements with the four biggest tournaments in the sport. Tennis Australia, which operates the Australian Open, already announced one in December. The detail remains to be disclosed, but if the tours fail in their motions to dismiss, they will have to reach a similar goal. — James Hansen

Collectibles

Following the emergence of Kevin O’Leary’s “WonderShyne Index” that has acquired some of the most valuable sports cards in existence in 2025, I think we’ll see more investment funds created around high-end collectibles in 2026 as wider economic concerns continue and people look for diverse stores of value. Separately, the soccer card market should make a big jump in 2026 with the World Cup being hosted across North America, getting the continent’s huge card-collector base more interested in the sport. — Brooks Peck

Media

The 2026 World Cup will be the most-watched World Cup in U.S. TV history … the NFL will announce an international package of games … NBC’s MLB coverage will be a hit … Aaron Rodgers will have a role in sports broadcasting next season. — Richard Deitsch (whose full 2026 sports media predictions column is worth your time)

My own 2026 sports business predictions: Is it too meta to predict that the mishegas around prediction markets will dramatically escalate next year?

Also: I’m by no means a bona fide cool person, but I started writing some form of end-of-year trend-spottish “What’s out, what’s in” list nearly 25 years ago (Out with 2001: Burberry, In with 2002: Fubu Platinum), so if you’re wondering what’s in for 2026, check out The Athletic’s “Out with 2025/In for 2026” list here.

Got any of your own ideas for 2026 sports-business predictions? Let me know at moneycall@theathletic.com.