IMG’s annual Digital Trends Report has always been intended as a trusted source for the sports industry – a guide to the technological developments that will shape the year ahead.
The trend from last year’s report I was asked about the most throughout 2025 was ‘There is no second screen.’ At the time, few, if any, questioned the phone as a second screen – taking its place behind the TV. We argued, backed by data, that there was no such hierarchy, and that sport needed to win on (at least) two screens at once. It struck a chord in the industry – it stopped people in their tracks and made them think differently about content.
But the Digital Trends Report has never been just about the content we consume. This time last year, we also said that in 2025, phones would still reign, but we would truly enter the era of wearables. Well, smart glasses are undeniably having a moment. If your organization has not yet experimented with this platform, you’re likely to be falling behind your competitors (but don’t worry – there’s still time).
More screens. More devices. More content.
That theme – more of everything – continues in this year’s edition.
AI, of course, is partially driving this change. But there’s a key point about the AI era, which I’ve spent much of 2025 reminding people: you need to anticipate more of everything. Eras of technology do not replace the one before. They stack on top of each other. When we moved to Web2 in the mid-00s, we kept the biggest winners from the first era of digital. As we move into the third era, we’ll keep the primary platforms from Web2. AI lives inside those platforms now — and in all others.
You can chart the emergence of AI as a disruptive force in our industry through the previous editions of this annual Trends Report. In each of our previous two editions, there were two chapters about AI.This year, it’s threaded throughout. It’s at the heart of all change. And yet, we also make the argument this year that people still matter too. The irony of AI’s growing dominance is that, in 2026, human-curated content will increasingly stand out from the crowd.
This year, we also feature a trend written by our team in Shanghai. As you’ll have noticed, last month we officially united our global digital team under the IMG brand, bringing our brilliant on-the-ground experts in China and across Asia, formerly known as Mailman, and our team in South America, who previously powered FC Diez Media, into the fold. For the first time our ‘platform power rankings’ also now features a list of platforms you’ll need to be aware of to reach audiences in China.
As a result, we enter 2026 with 200+ digital experts across five continents, ready to power the passion for sport through digital for all our clients and partners. I’m personally more excited than ever about the future of both our business and the technology landscape. We’re here to serve. In the meantime, please enjoy this year’s Trends Report and, as always, reach out with any questions (or even challenges).
