Biggest Questions Looming for 7 Leagues in 2026

Many of the U.S.’s biggest sports leagues are coming off of their most successful years ever. But they are still facing big questions about their futures. Going into 2026, there’s lots to navigate: media deals, labor talks, growth opportunities, and even existential fears. The outcomes will shape each sport’s impact and revenue next year and beyond.

NFL

Will the league renegotiate its media-rights deals?

After just three seasons of 11-year, $110 billion contracts with CBS, Fox, NBC, Disney, Amazon, and YouTube, the NFL has already signaled a desire to rework those agreements with its main broadcast partners. Leagues including the NBA and MLB have signed huge media deals, and the NFL has brought on another new streaming partner in Netflix.

The NFL can opt out of its deals after the 2029 season, but commissioner Roger Goodell has said new talks could take place in 2026. Restructuring those media rights could impact the league in multiple ways, from team owners’ desire to expand to an 18-game regular season, to the continued growth of international games.

MLB

What will happen with the labor talks?

The league has been on a significant heater, with attendance, regular-season viewership, and postseason audiences all surging. Superstars such as the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani continue to live up to massive expectations and then some, with repeat MVP awards. Will MLB and the MLBPA derail all that momentum amid a fractious set of labor negotiations?

The current five-year pact doesn’t expire until Dec. 1, 2026, and it won’t be until after this coming season that the league stands the risk of losing games. There is deep division between the two camps, however, on how to address a fast-growing economic disparity among teams, and players fear owners will pursue a salary cap. As labor talks begin next year, initial discord would undoubtedly set a dark tone during the 2026 season.

NBA

Will the league’s age of parity come to an end? 

The NBA hasn’t had a repeat champion since 2018, when the Warriors’ super-team of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant beat LeBron James’s Cavaliers. The league has had seven different title winners throughout the past seven years. But the defending-champion Thunder have the makings of a repeat winner, with a 25–3 start to the season—while regularly blowing out teams. The Thunder won’t pay the luxury tax until next season and returned their entire core from last year. Will their regular-season record top the 72-win Bulls from 1996 or 73-win Warriors in 2016?

Teams are prioritizing trying to catch the NBA’s smallest-market team—which is also among the league’s youngest—to avoid being totally dominated. But the Thunder could be in a class of their own for years to come, as they are likely to add a lottery pick due to the final payment L.A. owes OKC from the infamous Paul George trade in 2019. Can anyone dethrone them? 

NHL

Will a Canadian slide deepen?

No major U.S.-based pro-sports league has a more extensive presence in Canada than the NHL, and it’s something the league has leaned into particularly well in recent years. The Oilers have reached the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons, helping generate historic viewership north of the border, and last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off—which Canada won amid growing political tensions with the U.S.—was a massive hit, both competitively and culturally. 

The current NHL season, however, has told a very different story. After five Canadian teams reached the playoffs last season, including the Western Conference–champion Oilers and Presidents’ Trophy–winning Jets, just two teams—the Oilers and Canadiens—were in playoff position as of Dec. 22. No Canadian team since the 1993 Canadiens has won the Stanley Cup, and without a significant reversal, the odds of that streak continuing remain strong. 

WNBA

Will there even be a season? 

There is one question above all that the WNBA is facing heading into the new year: whether they’ll play a 2026 season. The WNBA and WNBPA are in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, but both sides remain far apart, mainly on the compensation model. Although the WNBA has proposed significant increases in salary, the union still also wants to see a larger percentage of league revenue shared with players. 

The WNBA has never in its nearly 30 years missed games due to a work stoppage. However, before 2025 was over, the union made it a point to vote on a strike authorization, which was overwhelmingly approved by the players. This doesn’t mean there will definitely be a strike, but it’s another indication that negotiations are not going well. Expect more clarity in the days leading up to the Jan. 9 deadline. 

NWSL

Will Trinity Rodman leave for Europe? 

The attention surrounding Trinity Rodman’s future shines a light on the broader issue in the NWSL: retaining stars. Currently, the league is at risk of losing Washington Spirit superstar–Rodman if it cannot come to an agreement with the NWSLPA on how to properly compensate its athletes. 

After the league nixed Rodman’s multi-million dollar deal with the Spirit, the board of governors voted to implement a “High Impact Player” fund, which would allow teams to go over the salary cap by a maximum of $1 million. Players would need to meet certain standards to fall under the categorization. On Dec. 23, the league announced its plan to move forward with the rule despite the NWSLPA’s opposition. In response, the union said it had “no choice but to take action to enforce the rights of the Players we represent.” Rodman’s contract expires at the end of December. Her future in the NWSL remains to be seen. 

MLS

Will there be a sizable World Cup bump?

The surge in soccer interest from the U.S. hosting the 1994 World Cup helped lead to the formation of Major League Soccer. More than three decades later, the country will host the 2026 World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico. Soccer executives are looking for something just as dramatic, if not more so. 

MLS is in a somewhat awkward and removed position as the FIFA-operated World Cup is not a league event. There will be at least some meaningful uptick in fan interest in soccer, however, given the upcoming, 48-team World Cup is the largest field in tournament history, and is slated to be one of the largest-overall sports events ever. MLS is keen to draft off of that however they can, with commissioner Don Garber saying recently, “we are in the midst of a dramatic, generational change. Soccer is now an American pastime.”