By Mark Seavy  

2025 saw professional and college sports IPs create connections with new fans—and deepen existing engagement—through consumer products and branded experiences. We’re looking back on a year that saw sports licensing score in a big way and examining how those evolving trends will play out in 2026.   

Licensing Goes Long    

Licensing has a long history with sports, but the way professional and collegiate teams and leagues deployed it this year took things to new heights.

And, because of its success in 2025, licensing as a strategy became much more ingrained in the world of college and pro sports.  

The professional league Grand Slam Track, for example, had licensed merchandise plans in place from the get-go (though it ultimately ended up in bankruptcy by year-end). The fast-growing Major League Pickleball, meanwhile, forged deals across equipment and apparel in addition to sponsorships and equity investments. And the mixed martial arts Professional Fighters League took a licensing bent in signing on with the Surge Brands agency.   

Even well-entrenched leagues and circuits across baseball, football, basketball, hockey, auto racing, and soccer sought out new means for burnishing their respective images. These efforts included not only licensed consumer products but also branded experiences that brought the game to life off the field.   

Engagement Extends Off the Field   

Real Madrid World, for example, continued into its second year at Dubai Parks & Resorts while Formula 1 made every stop along its 24-race circuit an event that extended well beyond the track. In fact, the brand raced into movie theaters with the blockbuster film F1 starring Brad Pitt.   

And the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL all continued launching games and competitions that crossed borders to connect with fans around the world. Beyond the experience of those international games, attendees could take a piece of the league home with them thanks to licensed merchandise stores with exclusive consumer products.  

Women’s sports, in particular, strengthened its focus on licensing. WNBA stars like the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Los Angeles Sparks’ Cameron Brink landed major sponsorship deals with products that sold out faster than retailers could restock. The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) added new franchises in Vancouver and Seattle after just its second year, while the Professional Volleyball Federation and Major League Volleyball merged and will launch a combined league in January.  

Scoring Big with Collaborations 

The growth of sports licensing this year was also fueled by collaborations that brought entertainment characters and fashion into play.  

Pop culture chain Box Lunch, for example, launched a collection of 26 products (including jerseys and bomber jackets) that paired MLB teams with characters from Disney, Looney Tunes, and WildBrain’s Peanuts. Bioworld Merchandising, meanwhile, best known for its pop culture apparel, signed an agreement with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and was in discussions with the NFL. A number of luxury brands courted a range of sports that stretched well beyond their typical stomping grounds of polo and America’s Cup.  

“Character licensing can also provide sports brands with opportunities to interact with their fans and create memorable experiences,” venture capital firm Faster Capital reported in a blog post. “By licensing their characters to media, such as video games, movies, and TV shows, sports brands can offer their fans more ways to enjoy and consume their content.”  

The Next Big Thing in Sports   

The ranks of collegiate sports, where schools are still adjusting their strategies following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the door to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) licensing, received a further jolt earlier this month when the University of Utah became the first to take in private equity funding to bolster its sports program. College sports observers are still gauging the impact of the $500-million investment but expect Utah to be the first of many schools to take on funding.   

“Private equity is going to come in and take over licensing in these cases because they need revenue streams,” a licensing attorney said. “They are going to renegotiate the TV contracts and take over licensing to figure out how to make money on it.”