As athletes embrace owned media properties, they’re pushing for more involved brand deals

July 23, 2026 Two days before the climax of this year’s World Cup, kitmaker Adidas ran a hastily constructed ad campaign highlighting talisman players Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi in front of its famous triple stripe logo. The message of the ad was simple enough: the protagonists of the summer’s biggest sporting event were both Adidas men. Advertisement TOP STORY The Sports Marketing Playbook As athletes embrace owned media properties, they’re pushing for more involved brand deals The NBA player’s union is pushing for stars to have a bigger say in brand deals. It highlights a larger shift in sports and creator marketing. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW Hear from execs at Reuters Digital, Axios, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and more at the Digiday Publishing Summit, Sept. 14–16 in Miami. From preparing for a world with fewer clicks to building new revenue streams and strengthening audience relationships, speakers will share how their organizations are adapting their business strategies to keep subscription, advertising and licensing revenue flowing. Register by Aug. 3 to save. More organizations are using AI to produce more with fewer resources — but the advantage comes from how creative and technical marketers activate AI, not just add it to their tech stack. Partner insights from Contentful. Between securing attention and earning trust, reaching audiences in the health and wellness space is challenging and often requires more to win them over. Download this case study to see how one healthcare company improved its strategies. Partner insights from PatientPoint. THE CREATOR ECONOMY The Creator Economy In Graphic Detail: The real impact of creators at the World Cup The 2026 World Cup buzz was all about creators; we look at the numbers breaking down their impact at the global tournament. The Creator Economy TikTok’s Kat Marquez unpacks NBA and WNBA creator deal TikTok’s latest move to secure its share of the leagues’ growing audiences sees it play gatekeeper between creators and rights holders. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM CELTRA Live session: Building real-time campaigns in highly regulated industries Join this live session on Aug. 5 at 10 a.m. ET for insights into fast-moving and highly regulated industries, like gaming, finance, healthcare and crypto, and why marketers need tech stacks that keep up. Can’t make it? Register, and we’ll send you the on-demand recording. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE What makes agentic commerce so important now? Up to $385 billion in U.S. e-commerce spend could be influenced by AI agents by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley. That means purchase decisions will increasingly be made by AI agents. Advertisement MEDIA & PLATFORMS Member exclusive Media Briefing: Brand authority and trust are becoming publishers' newest AI assets Some publishers are betting that trusted brands and editorial authority are becoming their biggest competitive advantage with LLMs. Marketing on Platforms Lifestyle brand Stanley uses AI behind the scenes — but execs claim it won't touch ad creative Not every brand is racing to let AI anywhere near its ads. Stanley draws the line there on purpose. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM BLIS Advertising’s most comprehensive signal is also its most accurate Carrier data provides a robust, privacy-centric audience view based on insights from the most frequently used device that rarely leaves people’s sides. Advertisers can then unlock a much more complete and accurate view of their consumers. ICYMI The Creator Economy 'It's a CEO conversation,' Accenture and Whalar on their playbook for the creator economy Brian Yasko, managing director at Accenture and Emma Harman, co-CEO of Whalar, on the massive creator economy acquisition and future plans. 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