{"id":612571,"date":"2026-02-24T10:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/612571\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:37:10","slug":"wnba-retains-top-spot-in-sportonsocial-global-sports-properties-2026-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/612571\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA retains top spot in SportOnSocial Global Sports Properties 2026 report"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b>9 out of top 10 are women\u2019s or mixed gender sports properties \u2013 reflecting consistent growth for women\u2019s sport over past 4 years<\/b>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b>Innovative, short\u2010form, fast\u2010paced properties like FIA World Endurance Championship, Ultimate Tennis Showdown dominate top 5<\/b>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>WNBA and the momentum in women\u2019s sport<\/b>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wnba.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>WNBA\u202f<\/b><\/a>has\u202fretained\u202fits top-ranking\u202ffor\u202fglobal online search growth\u202fin\u202fthe Redtorch\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/redtorch.sport\/sport_on_social\/global-sports-properties-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SportOnSocial\u202fGlobal Sports Properties 2026<\/a>\u202freport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on data from Google Trends, the\u202fWNBA\u202fachieved an\u202fimpressive 140%\u202fincrease in global online searches in 2025,\u202foutperforming\u202fevery other\u202fmajor\u202fsports\u202fentity\u202fworldwide.\u202fThe\u202fleague\u202fkeeps hold of the\u202ftop spot despite star\u202fathlete\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/caitlinclark22\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Caitlin\u202fClark<\/b><\/a>\u202fmissing significant\u202fplaying time through\u202finjury. This reflects\u202fthe\u202fconsistent growth\u202facross women\u2019s sport\u202fas\u202fthe sector\u202fcontinues to enjoy\u202fbroader\u202fglobal brand and\u202fcommercial appeal.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is\u202fevidenced\u202fby\u202fWNBA TV viewership\u202fin 2025\u202fbeing\u202f21% higher\u202fcompared to\u202f2024, and attendance broke a 37-year record.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Innovative\u202fformats\u202flead the way<\/b>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another key trend in our\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/redtorch.sport\/sport_on_social\/global-sports-properties-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SportOnSocial\u202fGlobal Sports Properties 2026\u202f<\/a>report is that fan attention is shifting clearly towards innovative, fast-paced sports formats, with short-form and accessible properties increasingly outperforming traditional models.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Three of the five fastest-growing sports properties\u202ffor online search\u202fare innovation-led formats, with\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiawec.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>FIA World Endurance Championship<\/b><\/a>\u202fup +108%,\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uts.live\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Ultimate Tennis Showdown<\/b><\/a>\u202fup +106% and\u202f<b>SailGP<\/b>\u202fup +84%. In\u00a02025,\u202fSailGP\u202freached 215 million cumulative global viewers, rising from 193 million the\u202fprevious\u202fseason.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This trend\u202fhighlights that formats that blend short-form competition, familiar talent and brands and\u202fsimple\u202fglobal distribution\u202fmodels \u2013 including\u202fa digital-first approach\u202ftargeting younger fans through\u202fclippable\u202fsocial\u202fcontent and streaming deals\u202f\u2013\u202fare\u202fachieving a greater\u202fshare\u202fof audience and fan\u202fengagement.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u202f<b>The rise of combat sports<\/b>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Combat sports are regaining cultural momentum as always-on, event-led properties\u202f\u2013 with\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.onefc.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>ONE Championship<\/b><\/a>\u202fjumping\u202f17 places to fifth in global search interest following its Amazon Prime Video deal, while\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufc.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><b>UFC<\/b><\/a>\u202frose 21 places to 18th\u202fand ranked sixth overall in 2025,\u202fsignalling accelerating momentum and sustained mass demand.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In combat sports, scale is now driven less by individual fight cards and more by streaming distribution and cultural reach. Organisations that secure global platforms, expand\u202finternationally\u202fand plug into mainstream narratives are pulling decisively ahead.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u202f<b>Jess Reus,\u202fRedtorch Head of Communications &amp; Women\u2019s Sport Lead,<\/b>\u202fexplains:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The latest\u00a0SportOnSocial\u00a0findings show that women\u2019s sport \u2013 led by the WNBA \u2013 continues its growth momentum with enhanced structures, audience\u00a0accessibility\u00a0and sustained fan relevance. A 140% increase in global search interest following the WNBA\u2019s number one position last year, alongside record attendance and rising broadcast audiences, reinforces that demand is now durable, rather than dependent on individual star moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Audiences are also increasingly gravitating towards formats that are fast-paced, short-form and digitally native, while combat sports\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0how always-on narratives and global streaming distribution can rapidly scale cultural relevance.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Properties that continue to embrace innovation, distribution connecting\u202finto culture\u202fwill not only grow\u202faudiences, but\u202ffurther develop brand appeal and commercial value.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"9 out of top 10 are women\u2019s or mixed gender sports properties \u2013 reflecting consistent growth for women\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":612572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[254117,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":["post-612571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-redtorch","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116125174898565958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}