Each new sporting year brings with it its own sense of the unknown. After all, what would sports be if we knew the outcome ahead of time?
Each new sporting year brings with it its own sense of the unknown. After all, what would sports be if we knew the outcome ahead of time?
2026 gives us one of the most packed sports schedules yet. Here are six burning questions tied to some of the biggest events:
Super Bowl LX (Feb. 8)
Question to answer: Will the 60th Super Bowl be a changing of the guard?
For fans of a certain age, Dec. 14, 2025, was a turning point of sorts in NFL history.
With the elimination of the Kansas City Chiefs from the postseason race, it guaranteed Patrick Mahomes would miss the playoffs, finally halting an iconic string of generational quarterback handoffs. Not since 1998 had an NFL postseason featured a field of teams without at least one of three Mt. Rushmore Super Bowl era quarterbacks.
No Mahomes. No Tom Brady. No Peyton Manning. No clue who this postseason runs through.
It’s a fitting setup for Super Bowl LX in February at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. As 2025 turns into 2026, the 60th rendition of the NFL’s biggest stage is teasing a mysterious matchup silhouette, with two of the AFC’s top seeds — the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos — being stewarded by a combination of second-year quarterbacks in Drake Maye and Bo Nix, and top-rung head coaches in Mike Vrabel and Sean Payton.
The intrigue at the top of the NFC side comes from the experience of two quarterbacks who have already made their mark on the game — the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford, who won Super Bowl LVI, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, who walked off with the hardware one year ago.
Even the favorites aren’t the overriding story, with the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and Patriots all streaking into the playoffs in the first season of their new head coaches, with both the Bears and Patriots pulling off the feat by vaulting from last-to-first in their respective divisions. And the San Francisco 49ers have been one of the stunning storylines of the season, overcoming a massive wave of offseason departures and in-season injuries to recover from 6-11 in 2024 to a playoff bid.
All of those storylines and parity have created a nirvana of sorts for the NFL, which set a record for the most-viewed regular-season game in league history on Thanksgiving, with the Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys obliterating the previous record of 42.1 million in 2022 and resetting the ceiling at a jaw-wagging 57.2 viewers.
The NFL is hoping for more of the same when it comes to this upcoming Super Bowl, which might as well be rebranded the Chaos Bowl given the number of teams that have a legitimate shot at winning it. As it stands, the league’s widening delivery platforms and embrace of gambling on the Super Bowl have resulted in three straight years of record-breaking audiences from 2023 to 2025. The aim is for 2026 to be the four-peat of raising the bar.
With this kind of parity and drama heading into the playoffs it’s doubtful many will be betting against it.
— Charles Robinson
2026 Winter Olympics (Feb. 6-22)
Question to answer in 2026: Are one-city Olympic hosts a thing of the past?
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will mark the first Games co-hosted by multiple cities. Why is that important? Well, because it highlights the increasing difficulty of finding locations capable of hosting a winter event of this magnitude. In 2030, the host will be the French Alps, a geographically liberal designation for a Games that will take place from Haute-Savoie in the north all the way down to Nice, some 400 miles south. In 2034, the Winter Games head back to the very reliable Salt Lake City — designated Utah 2034 — with much of its infrastructure still very much in place from when it held the Games in 2002.
As for these 2026 Games, the biggest story will be the return of Lindsey Vonn, the legendary skier who retired six years ago but is making a comeback on a replaced knee at age 41. Mikaela Shiffrin will join her on the mountain, looking to redeem herself after a disastrous 2022 Games in Beijing where, well … best to not revisit that. NHL players are also back, though not the Russians, who are banned from team competition. And Chloe Kim will look to continue her domination in the women’s snowboard halfpipe with a third straight gold medal.
— Jay Hart
2026 World Baseball Classic (March 5-17)
Question to answer in 2026: Can Team USA get back to global prominence?
Between the Winter Olympics in February and the World Cup over the summer, comes baseball’s most prominent international tournament, the World Baseball Classic. The tournament will feature pool play at four sites around the globe — Tokyo, San Juan, Houston and Miami — before concluding with the semifinals and championship game in Miami in mid-March. The WBC might not harbor as much history as the other iconic global sporting competitions — 2026 will mark just the sixth iteration of the tournament — but it has quickly escalated in popularity and importance among fans and players alike, priming the upcoming edition to be the most talent-rich yet.
A lot has changed in baseball since 2023’s dramatic finale, which featured Shohei Ohtani striking out Mike Trout to defeat Team USA and clinch the third title for Japan, including starkly different trajectories for those two main characters. Trout’s star power has unfortunately dimmed considerably, while Ohtani’s burns brighter than ever. But with Ohtani expected to headline Samurai Japan’s effort to retain its crown and a new wave of superstars leading Team USA — including Yankees captain Aaron Judge, Mariners standout slugger Cal Raleigh and Pirates ace Paul Skenes — a high-stakes USA vs. Japan rematch remains a tantalizing possibility.
That’s not to say those will be the only two teams making a push for the WBC title: Dominican Republic and Venezuela promise to feature a wealth of All-Star talent on their rosters. Puerto Rico and Mexico consistently perform well in international competition. And as with any tournament of this ilk, underdogs are sure to emerge from the 20-team field and perhaps topple some of the favorites. South Korea, Canada, Colombia and Italy project to have their best teams yet, heightening the likelihood of a thrilling upset at some point along the way.
All of it has the makings of another memorable few weeks of international baseball, a welcome jolt of high-stakes action leading up to MLB’s Opening Day on March 25.
— Jordan Shusterman
2026 WNBA collective bargaining agreement (date TBD)
Question to answer in 2026: How will the WNBA’s next collective bargaining agreement shape the future of women’s sports?
There is one aspect of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement negotiations that everyone involved has agreed upon from the start. It’s that the “transformational” document could change women’s sports forever. There will be no greater moment in the sport than the day a CBA is passed, and more critically, if it’s done in time for the 2026 season to begin on time. The league and union have already pushed the deadline twice, extending it to Jan. 9.
Women’s sports leagues and organizations have long followed the WNBA’s footsteps after it became the first to pass a CBA in 1999. They’re now paying close attention while players push for a revenue-sharing structure that would allow their salaries to increase as the business of the WNBA climbs. Yet, for as much attention as the money has garnered, there are down-ballot issues that could play significant roles.
Will the schedule and/or rosters expand? Will practice facility requirements be standardized? Will prioritization go the distance, preventing players from taking part in offseason leagues?
All of this is contingent upon a new deal being put in place. If the sides don’t come to an agreement, the league would not only begin its first work stoppage, but also enter dangerous territory. Alternative leagues like Unrivaled, AU Basketball and Project B could take advantage. And most pro leagues experience dips in fan interest upon returns from missed games, a step back the WNBA and its players won’t want to take after a decade of gains. The moment has never been heavier than it is ahead of the league’s 30th anniversary.
— Cassandra Negley
World Cup (June 11-July 19)
Question to answer in 2026: How will the USMNT fare in the biggest World Cup ever?
The stage is set for a breakthrough moment: a World Cup at home, a team finding its way under a renowned coach, a collection of European-seasoned players at a prime age … it all seems to be falling into place.
The Americans are keen to reach the quarterfinals after a 24-year wait, which would be not only a quantum leap for the program but a jolt for the sport in this country. With the expanded 48-team tournament in North America for the first time since 1994, the U.S. team will have the public’s attention. Here’s the best chance to advance multiple causes and springboard soccer to new heights.
Mauricio Pochettino, who has coached major European clubs but never a national team, has instilled a strong culture and deployed a tactical approach players have embraced. Growing in confidence, the U.S. team promises to be competitive and hard to beat. But is it good enough to make a deep run and galvanize the country?
Good results in recent friendlies have offered optimism, but friendlies are not feverish World Cup matches, where every mistake is magnified. Led by Christian Pulisic, a veteran core will seek to go one step further than four years ago in Qatar. Finishing first in a manageable group would set a favorable course, but the true test of American resolve would come in do-or-die knockout games.
— Steven Goff
UFC at the White House (tentatively June 14)
Question to answer in 2026: What should we actually expect from the UFC’s White House event?
From the beginning, it had the feel of a plan that had been spoken, suddenly and without much forethought, into immediate existence. A UFC event at the White House. On the White House lawn, in fact, with a hand-picked crowd watching from cageside and a live TV broadcast beamed out to the rest of us plebs. The phrase “bread and circuses” springs to mind.
But what should we actually expect from the UFC’s White House event? It’s a tricky question, mostly because we’re dealing with two of the all-time great hyperbole merchants in U.S. President Donald Trump and UFC CEO Dana White.
For instance, Trump recently told reporters the event would include “eight or nine championship fights, the biggest fights [the UFC has] ever had.” (There are only 11 divisions with titles that currently exist in the UFC.) He went on to claim that White is “holding back fights right now” in order to make this dream lineup possible. That would probably be unwelcome news to Paramount, the UFC’s new broadcast partner, which is paying roughly $1 billion per year for the broadcast rights and would probably not like to see the first six months of this deal stunted by title fight rationing.
There’s also the question of who will be there. According to White, tickets to this event will not be available to the public. It’s going to be a small and likely carefully curated crowd, likely not packed with genuine fight fans.
So what can we count on from this event? The one guarantee is it'll be an all-out Trump lovefest. No pro sports organization has embraced this president more eagerly or enthusiastically than the UFC. When Trump attends UFC events, he gets an entrance on par with any UFC champion. One camera stays trained on him throughout the broadcast, ready to cut to shots of him reacting to every fight finish, like he’s Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs game.
If that’s what happens when the event takes place at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena, just imagine how much the UFC will crank up that energy for an event at the White House that just happens to take place on or near Trump’s 80th birthday. The UFC may be the one bringing the cage and the fighters (and according to White, paying to repair the White House lawn once it’s over), but expect to be reminded many times over the course of the evening that it’s Trump who deserves the glory.
— Ben Fowlkes
Category: General Sports
