The Bundle 2026 Preview

What will happen vs what might happen in the sports media market this year, with regular co-hosts Murray Barnett and Yannick Ramcke

The Bundle is out today, listen here or where you get your podcasts.

The stories we’ll be talking about this year

This predictions episode surfaced something more interesting than individual forecasts: a picture of an industry reaching the end of one era and groping toward the next. The fragmentation experiment is over. The re-bundling has begun. And the power dynamics between rights holders and distributors are shifting in ways that will define the next decade.

The NFL starts to talk early

The most consequential development may be the least surprising. The NFL has negotiated opt-out clauses into its current 11-year, $110 billion contracts, allowing the league to reopen negotiations as early as 2026 for the 2029-30 season.

Why would a league with the most valuable contracts in sports history want to renegotiate early? Because the NBA just reset the market, and the NFL’s domestic audience hit a 35-year high.

Murray Barnett sees the shape of what’s coming: “Creation of a new package... which would effectively be the international games.” A global package, carved out specifically for the 9:00 AM Eastern slot, designed to appeal to platforms without borders—Amazon, YouTube, and whoever else wants to bid.

Yannick Ramcke puts it plainly: “Not everybody is the 800 pound gorilla in the market because they can, they have negotiated into the current rights agreements opt-outs.”

International revenue currently represents less than 3% of the NFL’s total. Flag football in the 2028 Olympics and continued grassroots expansion provide the narrative cover. But the real story is leverage: the NFL wants to see what the global streaming wars are worth before the current deals expire.

The Champions League Final Goes to Miami

Here’s one that will cause a shitstorm if it’s anywhere near real: this year UEFA will announce the 2028 Champions League final will go to Miami. (Murray puts it at a 65% chance…).

The logic isn’t primarily about media rights—it’s about everything else. Hosting fees. Sponsorship activations. The “halo effect” that UEFA and its agency partner Relevant believe an American final would create for the entire competition.

As Murray Barnett frames it: “UEFA and Relevant will announce UEFA Champions League final 2028 in Miami.”

Yannick Ramcke is more specific about the motivation: “It’s a pure commercial sponsorship... hosting fees. These kind of revenue streams... would drive any such conversation.”

This connects directly to La Liga’s Miami gambit we discussed in September—Barcelona vs. Villarreal as the test case for European league games on American soil. If that happens, the Champions League final becomes not a radical departure but a logical extension.

Relevant’s strategy of using “global packages” as what Yannick calls a “Trojan horse” to stir competition between big tech and traditional broadcasters has been one of the more sophisticated plays in recent rights cycles. Miami would be the culmination.

DAZN Finally Cracks America

DAZN has been trying to solve the American market for years. The prediction: they do it by acquiring Main Street Sports (the entity formerly known as Diamond Sports Group), the largest portfolio of regional sports networks in the US.

The bankruptcy process is the enabler. Yannick Ramcke: “DAZN will acquire Main Street... with the biggest portfolio with the most NHL, MLB, NBA teams under contract.”

Acquiring post-bankruptcy means shedding problematic legacy contracts and debt. It’s the same playbook that’s made distressed media assets attractive to acquirers across the industry.

The second part of the DAZN story: an estimated 80% chance of announcing plans for a partial flotation or IPO in 2026. Access to public markets would provide the capital for continued consolidation—and an exit path for Len Blavatnik’s investment.

The WBD Question Mark

The most uncertain variable in the 2026 landscape may be what happens with Warner Bros. Discovery. Both the Paramount merger and potential Netflix involvement face regulatory hurdles and political complications.

Murray Barnett: “There’s a chance that it may collapse with both Paramount and with Netflix for different reasons.”

The knock-on effects for sports rights are significant. TNT Sports in the UK faces Premier League auction uncertainty. The NBA’s domestic broadcast situation remains in flux.

Yannick Ramcke on the NFL implications: “I don’t see an NFL deal coming... just this uncertainty among the buyers universe.”

The paralysis extends beyond specific deals to the broader bidding environment. Rights sellers want confident buyers. Regulatory uncertainty creates exactly the opposite.

The Year of the Consumer

Perhaps the most optimistic prediction is also the most structurally significant: 2026 as the year the streaming wars start benefiting viewers.

Yannick Ramcke: “The end consumer will be one of the winners in 2026... there will be a lot of partnerships, consolidation... to make products more accessible.”

After years of fragmentation and what we might call “streaming inflation”—more services, higher prices, content scattered across incompatible platforms—the industry is pivoting toward cooperation. The priority has shifted from subscriber growth at any cost to sustainable profitability.

This echoes what we saw with Ligue 1’s direct-to-consumer launch: realistic subscriber targets, aggressive pricing (€14.99 vs. DAZN’s previous €29.99), and distribution partnerships rather than pure D2C isolation.

The re-bundling is happening. The question is what shape it takes.

The Outliers: NASCAR and Tennis

Two predictions that would reshape their respective sports:

Liberty Media acquires NASCAR. The lawsuits from teams like Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing have exposed discontent with NASCAR’s private ownership model. Murray Barnett suggests this might create a window: “Might this be the right time for the France family to sell the sport... I’ve suggested Liberty Media because they obviously have Formula One and MotoGP.”

The synergies are obvious—Liberty already dominates global motorsport. The price might finally be attractive. Whether the France family is actually willing to sell remains the key variable.

Tennis moves toward collective rights selling. The Grand Slams currently capture 70% of tennis investment, leaving 30% for the rest of the tour. The prediction: the four Slams eventually announce plans to sell international media rights collectively.

Murray Barnett goes further, suggesting the elevation of an existing 1000-level event (Indian Wells being the obvious candidate) to create a “Fifth Slam”—a more branded, consistent environment for casual fans. “The scarcity of events tends to increase the value of it.”

The outro

Strip away the individual predictions and a coherent picture emerges.

Rights holders are getting more aggressive. The NFL’s opt-out clauses, UEFA’s American ambitions, the Grand Slams’ collective bargaining discussions—all point toward sophisticated rights maximization.

Distributors are consolidating. DAZN’s American play, WBD’s merger attempts, RTL’s acquisition of Sky Sports Germany—scale has become essential for survival.

The consumer finally has leverage. Fragmentation proved unsustainable. Profitability requires accessibility. The streaming experiment is entering its mature phase.

And the old distinctions—domestic vs. international, linear vs. streaming, sports vs. entertainment—continue to dissolve.

Welcome to 2026.

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The Bundle is produced by Unofficial Partner. Richard Gillis hosts alongside Murray Barnett (26 West Consulting) and Yannick Ramcke (OneFootball).