Friday, July 31st, 2026 – 5:45 am

It’s no secret that sports are steering streaming TV ad dollars, including in the upfront negotiations that just wrapped. But there’s more untapped potential to be had in sports.

Women’s sports is having a moment, as publishers, advertisers and the tech vendors in between try to capitalize on rising viewership. 

Take the Women’s Sports Index, the brain child of sports agency Deep Blue and data analytics platform Mondo Metrics. The intelligence platform is meant to help brands identify trends that can help inform their marketing efforts, such as tracking engagement patterns and purchase intent across different creator partnerships. 

Women’s sports fans behave differently than men’s sports fans, says Associate Editor Victoria McNally on this week’s episode of The Big Story. According to a recent Vox Media survey, men’s sports fans are more likely to root for a team because their parents rooted for it, whereas women’s sports fans “get into it for the love of the game,” McNally says. Women’s sports fans are also more likely to create fandom around specific athletes. When it comes to women’s sports, “it’s a lot more active and community-driven,” McNally says.

Digital out-of-home is having a moment, too. 

The 2026 FIFA World Cup just wrapped, and Sweetgreen tapped Atmosphere TV, a video advertising startup, to run ads in sports bars where people were likely watching the tournament. While Atmosphere TV prefers the CTV label over DOOH, the point still stands: Relevant ads that run near physical stores can help encourage foot traffic for advertisers.

Because any food chain that has lettuce on the menu could definitely use some help driving foot traffic. 

Also in this episode: Eyewear brand Blacksheep uses digital billboards to ream Google for supposedly steering search traffic away from its site. Plus: HelloFresh goes to Times Square with AI creative on digital billboards.