The Sports Shift - January 2026 Edition
Australia Day has just ticked over, the tennis precinct is still humming and the summer of sport has done what it always does: it’s turned the whole country into a scrolling, streaming, group-chatting stadium.
This month’s big theme is simple: sport isn’t a ‘media buy’ anymore. It’s a platform. And January is where the best platforms prove it - with crowd scale, cultural relevance, and brands launching ideas in real time.
“If you own January, you own the year.”
The Australian Open 2026 start is the blueprint: record gates, BVOD surging and brands treating the tournament like a launchpad.
AO26 is not ‘a tennis tournament’ - it’s a national entertainment engine - Day 1 night session on Nine reached 1.9m Aussies; BVOD audiences were up 80%+ YoY, and Tennis Australia recorded a day-session gate record of 73,235.
UFC’s Australian home has changed - and the ad-load debate has started
From January 2026, Paramount+ carries UFC Fight Nights and numbered-event prelims. The first big talking point? Ads. That’s a reminder: platform shifts change the fan experience (and the rules for sponsors).
Vegas Round is officially a ‘thing’ now (and it’s a real brand week)
NRL kicks off 2026 on U.S. soil on 28 Feb at Allegiant Stadium. Think tourism, retail, and social-first activations - not just sports sponsorship.
The AO has completed its transformation. It’s no longer competing with other tennis tournaments - it’s competing with every other January entertainment habit: music, fashion, food, nightlife, creators and streaming.
What’s really happening
Tennis Australia is ‘festivalising’ the event: turning match tickets into a precinct pass, and the precinct pass into a social badge. Fashion activations, influencer moments and on-site brand experiences are now as visible as the backhand winners.
What brands should do
AO26 by the numbers (early):
Australia doesn’t do Super Bowl Sunday. We do Super Bowl Monday.
Which means the Big Game isn’t competing with weekend sport, it’s competing with your first meeting, your inbox and the suspiciously convenient ‘WFH’ calendar block. The Aussie appetite is real
Super Bowl LIX pulled 2.5m+ total TV viewers in Australia, with Channel 7 noting a 20% increase since 2022.
That’s the core local truth: the audience is now too big to treat as ‘niche expat viewing’. It’s a mainstream, Monday-morning cultural moment, especially for brands that want mass reach with a U.S.-flavoured edge.
The global machine by the numbers
2026’s ‘price of attention’: 30-second ads are priced between US$7–8 million, and game tickets are reportedly US$6,085 to US$57,834.
When Super Bowl coverage is available via FTA, access stops being the advantage. The game is the same, the pictures are the same, the real battle is choice.
ESPN’s Have a Siiick Day strategy recognises that in Australia, the Super Bowl isn’t just a broadcast moment, it’s a Monday-morning cultural ritual. Rather than competing on coverage, ESPN competes on culture, using personality, humour and real-time relevance to make the Super Bowl feel like something Australians actively want to be part of, not just something they happen to watch.
1. Culture over coverage
When the product is the same, differentiation comes from tone, personality and cultural relevance, not just access.
2. Meet fans where they already are
Lean into both pop-culture fans and fans of the game, without forcing a single viewing behaviour.
3. Personality beats platforms
Big voices (Stephen A. Smith) and celebratory, comedic hooks (Gridiron Guy) make ESPN feel like the place you want to enjoy and celebrate the game.
4. Win the moment, not just the match
Real-time content, second-screen moments and social conversation extend relevance beyond kick-off.
5. Turn awareness into tune-in
By owning how Super Bowl Monday feels, ESPN turns cultural participation into natural viewing behaviour.
Australians aren’t choosing one sports service anymore, they’re building stacks. This month alone, three signals reinforced it: ESPN living inside Disney+, UFC moving to Paramount+, and Kayo continuing to post record AFL consumption.
Stack watch: what changed the game
So what should marketers do?
Fri, 6 Feb 2026 – Sun, 22 Feb 2026
Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Premium storytelling, sustainability, travel + luxury partnerships.
9 Feb 2026 (AEDT)
Super Bowl LX - The world’s biggest second-screen ad lab. Social + retail + live activations.
28 Feb 2026
NRL Las Vegas (season kick-off) - Tourism + streetwear + retail collabs; turn it into an ‘NRL Week’ not a match.
1 Mar 2026
NRL Season 2026 begins - Round 1 always over-indexes on casual viewers - perfect for broad reach.
March/April
2026 NBL Finals will be played in March and April, consisting of three play-in games, two best-of-three semifinal series and the best-of-five NBL Championship series.
5-8 Mar 2026
AFL Opening Round - Launch content early; real-time creative wins because the hype is concentrated.
We hope this edition helps you start 2026 with clarity, context and a few fresh ideas. If anything sparks interest, we’d love to chat about how these shifts could translate into an opportunity for your brand.