As upfront negotiations near, buyers chart path through complex sports market

April 20, 2026 The annual television upfronts season, which kicks off in just a few weeks, will confront media buyers and brands with a sports media market of unprecedented complexity. Brands aiming to dominate coverage of the NFL, MLB or NBA will have to plan around a large cast of rights-holders, each with different format and schedule offerings that complicate campaign strategies and measurement efforts. Advertisement TOP STORY Marketing in Sports As upfront negotiations near, buyers chart path through complex sports market The DOJ’s NFL probe highlights how sports rights complexity can be ‘good for pricing, but hard on strategy’ for brands and buyers. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW As AI increases the bar for speed and responsiveness, the best people spend more time coordinating than doing the work only humans can do. Tools meant to simplify can end up costing agencies time, confidence and eventually, accounts. Partner insights from Pathlabs. For years, marketing was treated primarily as a creative function. Today, brand expression still matters deeply, but it is also where machines can dramatically accelerate outputs. Partner insights from OpenX. Combining CTV with purchase data allows marketers to optimize for business outcomes instead of viewership, particularly as streaming platforms introduce more shoppable formats. Partner insights from Circana. MEDIA & PLATFORMS Zero-click Future From page views to propensity: How the Daily Mail is retooling for a zero-click world The pressure of zero-click underpins a wider product overhaul: games upgraded from sideshow to front door, new hubs like Crime Desk designed to keep niche communities coming back, an AI-powered dynamic paywall tuned to user behavior; a bigger bet on personalization and the app as a primary destination. Marketing in Sports The World Cup is set to lift demand for digital out-of-home spending Digital out-of-home providers are competing for a greater share of ad spend during the FIFA World Cup. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM KEEN DECISION SYSTEMS Why high-growth brands view marketing as a value generator On average, winning brands — those that achieve at least 5% growth in both sales and net present value over a 12-month period — increased their marketing budgets by 30% year over year. MARKETING Zero-click Future Why Mondelez is hiring a global lead to solve for AI-driven shopping bots Agentic commerce has moved from hype to reality, prompting Mondelez to hire a global lead focused on the shift. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AUDIOEYE Accessibility can’t be left behind as AI builds the web faster AI gives marketers the speed they’ve always wanted. Landing pages now take minutes to build, instead of weeks. But rapidly-built experiences aren’t accessible to everyone, and that’s a problem for brands. DIGIDAY + Member exclusive Media Buying Briefing: As Q1 results from a few holdcos show, the market's not panicking, yet Marketers have learned that cutting back media spend during bad times hurts far more in the long run than short-term financial gain. Advertisement ICYMI Marketing on Platforms ‘Everything is coming down’: ChatGPT ads are getting cheaper While the pilot CPM started out at $60, advertisers are now seeing that price drop to as low as $25, just nine weeks into the test. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy