A-Z: The SportsTravel Alphabet of 2026 Sports Events

It’s finally here.

Six years after winning the right to host the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, the tournament will finally kick off this summer across North America. While that event’s return to the U.S. for the first time in 32 years will be the signature domestic sporting event of 2026, there’s plenty more on tap across the world, from the Winter Olympic Games in Italy to major events in Africa, Japan, Scotland and more. The SportsTravel team has analyzed the major sporting events and trends that will take place in 2026 in a new A–Z format.

Read our insights below on what events will shape the sporting landscape in 2026.

A – An ATP–WTA commercial merger or more radical reforms for tennis? 

A possible commercial merger between tennis’ ATP and WTA Tours has been rumored for some time as a way to unite tennis, including combining sponsorship sales, gambling data deals and creating a single selling unit across both tours. However, discussions still have not come to a satisfactory conclusion and other parties are suggesting radical reforms to the sport instead. The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), founded by professional men’s players Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, is reportedly proposing a breakaway tour of its own that promotes transparency and equity in tennis, and it launched an anti-trust lawsuit against the four Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP and WTA Tours and the International Tennis Federation last year, accusing them of collaborating to lower prize money, impose restrictive ranking systems and limit promotional opportunities for players.

B – Blast invests in esports infrastructure

The growth of Danish esports firm Blast underscores the burgeoning global demand for premium esports experiences — for context, more than 170,000 fans attended Blast arena events in 2025. The network has cemented its position as a dominant player in the esports field through advertising, sponsorship and media rights deals, including a betting deal with Miami-based Unikrn, collaborations with leagues such as Rocket League, and multi-year partnerships with tourism boards and foundations in the likes of Malta and Singapore.

C — College football goes international

The 2026 college football season will once again begin at Dublin’s 47,000-capacity Aviva Stadium, which will host the fifth annual Aer Lingus College Football Classic on August 29, pitting the North Carolina Tar Heels against the TCU Horned Frogs. In further international moves this year, Virginia and NC State will line up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the first college football game in South America (also on August 29), and the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Kansas Jayhawks will face off in the inaugural Union Jack Classic at London’s Wembley Stadium on September 19.

D — Denver Summit FC becomes 16th NWSL club

On March 28, Denver Summit FC will begin its season as the 16th NWSL club, and its inaugural home match at Empower Field at Mile High, home to the Denver Broncos, could set a new attendance record for a match in the league. In December 2025, the club announced that it had received approval from Denver City Council to move forward with a 12,000-seat, purpose-built stadium at Santa Fe Yards, which is expected to open in time for the 2028 NWSL season.

E – Enhanced Games to debut in Las Vegas

This new event drew scrutiny for announcing it would allow athletes to use performance-enhancing substances. Supporters are calling it the “Olympics of the Future” while critics say that it will negatively impact athletes’ health and undermine the notion of fair play. The multi-sport event, which will be held in Las Vegas in May, is already attracting former Olympians such as swimmer James Magnussen of Australia, while former American swimmer Megan Romano became the first woman and first American to commit to the event. TEG’s organizers are aiming to take the event public on the Nasdaq later this year.

F – FIBA heightens its ambitions in Europe

FIBA and the NBA are believed to be trying to attract private equity investment for a new European professional club basketball league, which could get the go-ahead for 2027 and feature 12-to-16 franchises. FIBA is also looking to grow the women’s game, and September’s FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Germany will be a big opportunity to increase its exposure in Europe.

G – Glasgow steps in as Commonwealth Games host

The Commonwealth Games will be back in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, from July 23 – August 2 after the Australian state of Victoria forfeited the right to host the multi-sport event due to higher-than-anticipated costs. Instead, Glasgow has stepped in to host a trimmed Games with a 10-sport program that includes six fully integrated para sports, and 3,000 athletes from 74 nations.

H – Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, becomes the latest U.S. spot on the UTMB trail running series

Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, will become the latest U.S. spot on the UTMB trail running series with the inaugural Rothrock by UTMB race on May 16–17. Featuring 50km and 25km competitions, the race will join a calendar of more than 60 trail events worldwide and marks the 12th event in North America, while organizers plan to give back over $40,000 to the greater Rothrock community over the next three years.

I – Ironman debuts four races in North America

Ironman’s 2026 North American season calendar will include four new competitions, including a full-distance race in Jacksonville, Florida. Also among the new competitions are 70.3-mile races in Dallas–Little Elm, Texas; Omaha; Ruidoso, New Mexico; and Redding, California. The schedule builds on another year of growing athlete participation and global demand at the full Ironman and 70.3 distances — the average competitor age dropped from 43 in 2024 to 42 in 2025 and there was a 12% year-on-year increase in first-time athlete participation in Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races in Canada and the U.S. in 2025.

J – Japan’s time to shine

It has been seven years since Japan hosted its first Men’s Rugby World Cup and five years since it welcomed the Summer Olympic Games. Now, the country has established itself as a reliable and consistent host of major sporting events and it will continue in 2026 with X Games League (July 4–5), its third Asian Games (September 19–October 4), the World Lacrosse Women’s Championships (July 24–August 2), and more.

K – Kyle Field at Texas A&M hosts the Savannah Bananas

Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, with a seating capacity of 102,000, is one of 10 football stadiums that will host Savannah Bananas games in 2026, in what will be the inaugural season of the Banana Ball Championship League. Described as “the fastest and most entertaining game of baseball,” the Banana Ball league games and events are scheduled to take place in 75 stadiums and 45 states, and they are expected to attract up to 3.2 million spectators in total.

L – LIV Golf expands into new markets

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf League is expanding into new markets in 2026, including Johannesburg, South Africa, (March 20–22) and New Orleans, Louisiana, (May 8–10), alongside other tournaments this year in Andalusia (Spain), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Mexico City (Mexico), Singapore, Rocester (UK), Staffordshire (UK) and Adelaide (Australia). However, as it gets set for its fifth season, the tour is confronting mounting problems, including widening financial losses in its UK division (believed to total $1.4 billion since 2022) and the departure of five-time major champion Brooks Koepka back to the traditional PGA Tour.

M – Milan-Cortina hosts the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games over a wide footprint of Northern Italy

The build-up to the 25th and 14th Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has been anything but smooth, with a shortage of artificial snow and well-publicized delays to the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena threatening to derail preparations. However, as anticipation builds for the Olympic event (February 6–22), it promises to be a landmark occasion, with a record number of medal events (116 including the long-awaited debut of ski mountaineering) across 15 different venues, the first Games of new IOC President Kirsty Coventry’s tenure, and a star-studded opening ceremony with performances from singers Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey.

N – New York City Marathon celebrates the 50th year of its historic course

From its relatively humble beginnings in 1970 as a local race looping Central Park, the TCS New York City Marathon has grown to be the world’s largest marathon event, and November 1, 2026, will mark 50 years since the course first spanned all five boroughs of the Big Apple. Some 56,000 athletes will participate in the 26.2-mile course, which starts on the Staten Island side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge before taking runners through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx and ending at the famous Central Park finish line.

O – Ontario Sports Empire multisport complex opens in Ontario, California

The new Ontario Sports Empire, managed by the Sports Facilities Companies, is set to open in fall 2026 and become the largest multi-sport complex in the Western U.S. The 190-acre facility, will host major regional and national tournaments, and include 20 long fields, 14 youth diamond fields, eight full-size diamonds, four football/rugby fields and two championship baseball fields.

P – Phoenix hosts the NCAA Women’s Final Four for the first time

The Phoenix region is fast turning into a basketball hotbed, with State Farm Arena in nearby Glendale having hosted the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2017 and 2024 and now the Mortgage Matchup Center in downtown Phoenix welcoming the Women’s Final Four (April 3–5) for the first time. That same arena, which is the home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, will also welcome the 76th NBA All-Star Game in February 2027.

Q – Questions about fans traveling to the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in history as the first to feature 48 national soccer teams and the first to span three countries — Canada, Mexico and the United States. However, in the months leading up to the tournament, serious questions remain for fans and how or if they will be able to travel to matches. The United States has suspended the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, raising doubts over whether fans from Algeria, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Uruguay and Uzbekistan will be able to attend. Fans from other countries have also criticized the high prices of tickets and the geographical spread of games, but the tense standoffs initiated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) across the country have even fueled calls for a potential boycott of the tournament.

 

R – Rugby’s new Nations Championship to transform sport’s international calendar

The new biennial Nations Championship is set to shake up the international rugby calendar by bringing together the world’s best national teams over two seasonal windows. A total of 12 teams, including World Champions South Africa, New Zealand and England will play home and away during the summer and autumn in order to crown an outright winner at Allianz Stadium in London.

S – Santa Clara, California, hosts historic double: Super Bowl LX and FIFA World Cup matches

All eyes will be on Santa Clara, California, in 2026 as Levi’s Stadium gets set to host a prestigious sporting double – Super Bowl LX in February and six matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Super Bowl on February 8 will be a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, when the New England Patriots stunned the Seattle Seahawks with a goal-line interception to claim their fifth NFL title. Four months later, the other football will take center stage, with Qatar, Switzerland, Paraguay, Australia, Jordan and Algeria taking part in Group Stage matches followed by a Round of 32 game at the 68,000-seat venue.

T – Team time trial to begin Tour de France for first time in 55 years

When the 184 riders representing 23 teams line up for the start of the 2026 Tour de France on July 4, it will be the first time in 55 years that the Tour begins with a 19km team time trial and it will be the 27th Grand Départ to take place outside of France. Across the 21 stages, there will also be a 26km individual time trial at Stage 16 between Évian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains, and the race in France will visit seven regions and 29 departments.

U – UCI BMX World Cup events come to Sarasota County

Visit Sarasota County and Sarasota BMX will host the UCI BMX World Cup events from October 31 – November 1 in 2026 and October 2–3, 2027, which will serve as qualifiers for the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. First built in 1974, the Sarasota BMX track is the oldest continuously running BMX track in the United States, and the UCI BMX Racing World Cup consists of eight rounds across four international venues each year.

V – Volleyball World and FIVB launch FIVB Beach World Series

November 2026 will mark the launch of FIVB Beach World Series, the result of a landmark partnership between Volleyball World, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the Dubai Sports Council, which will replace Beach Pro Tour as the premier beach volleyball competition. Dubai will be the opening destination for the next five editions of the global series, which will feature nine other host venues around the world as well as entertainment such as live music, DJs and crowd engagement.

W – World Baseball Classic returns with games in Japan, Puerto Rico, Houston and finals in Miami

After a scintillating conclusion to its most recent edition in 2023 — when Shohei Ohtani struck out his then-Angels teammate Mike Trout of the U.S. to secure Japan’s title — the World Baseball Classic is back in 2026. Early round games will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, (Hiram Birthorn Stadium), Tokyo, Japan (Tokyo Dome), Miami (loanDepot Park) and, for the first time, Houston (Minute Maid Park). Just as it did in 2023, Miami will once again host the semi-finals and finals, the latter of which will take place on March 17.

X – X League debuts to empower women in tackle and flag football hybrid

Debuting on April 4, the X League is a women’s semi-professional indoor American football league in the United States that adopts a 7-on-7 hybrid format of tackle and flag football. Originally founded in 2009 as the Lingerie Football League and then rebranded as the Legends Football League, the X League returns with eight teams across Western and Eastern Conferences, before an overall champion is crowned at the X Cup Championship on August 15. Led by a brand message of “Empowerment through Sport,” the X League wants to become America’s number one sport to include women.

Y – Youth Olympic Games head to Africa for the first time

The fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games will head to Africa this year – the first Olympic sports event to take place on African soil – representing a significant catalyst for sporting, social, cultural, educational and economic transformation that can drive opportunities for young people in the continent. The Games in Dakar, Senegal were postponed from 2022 due to the consequences of delaying the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, and will be held from October 31 – November 13.

Z – Gen Z driving interest in esports and new fan experiences, and brands are relating to them 

Millennials and Gen Z make up two of the largest and most commercially valuable demographics in the sports media landscape — according to WSC Sports, 85 percent of millennials identify as hard-core sports fans while Gen Z fans typically feel closer to individual athletes (31 percent) than teams (27 percent). And while traditional sports venues were built around one focal point such as a pitch, court or rink, the next generation of esports events and venues will go beyond the stage and incorporate play, community, culture, food and commerce to create a more complete fan journey.