So much sports: Why 2026 will be a sports year unlike any other

It’s the second weekend of June in 2026, and the eyes of the sports universe are trained on the FIFA World Cup fixtures kicking off across North America. And the NBA Finals. And the Stanley Cup Finals. And …

That same weekend, there’s a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Spain, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in England, a PGA Tour event in Canada, two ATP Tour tournaments in Europe, the College World Series in Nebraska, a NASCAR race in the Poconos and a UFC fight night on the White House lawn.

Topping it off? An American royal wedding, with a sports connection: artist Taylor Swift and athlete Travis Kelce marrying in Rhode Island as a World Cup game goes on 70 miles away in Massachusetts.

It’ll be one of the busiest sports weekends ever. Yet, this year, it may feel like just another weekend. The 2026 global sports calendar is overflowing, as the Winter Olympics, World Cup and World Baseball Classic align for the first time in two decades and other quadrennials return to regular intervals after pandemic-related postponements. This confluence caused scheduling headaches for event organizers and TV execs.

For viewers, it’s a windfall.

The Olympics overlap the Super Bowl and rugby’s Six Nations Championship. The World Baseball Classic ends the first night of March Madness. The World Cup is king of a jam-packed summer slate.

It’s so much sports.

As the New Year’s Eve confetti is swept away and games resume with the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, we’ve put together a primer on why 2026 is such a seismic year in sports. We’ll cover the big, non-annual events ahead on the calendar and explain which leagues are ​​undergoing major structural changes this year that could shake up the sport.

---

Here, in roughly chronological order, are some of the recurring even-year events stuffed into the 2026 sporting schedule alongside the annual staples.

Winter Olympics: Feb. 6-22, Italy

Milano Cortina 2026 marks the first Winter Olympics since 2018 with regular crowd capacities, the first since 2014 with active NHL players participating, and the first since 2002 with a new discipline (ski mountaineering). The Olympics are followed by the Winter Paralympics (March 6-15) and later the Summer Youth Olympics (Oct. 31-Nov. 13).

ICC T20 World Cup: men’s Feb. 7-March 8, India and Sri Lanka; women’s June 12-July 5, England and Wales

In the 10th edition of this biennial cricket tournament, India attempts to defend its title on home turf on the men’s side, and New Zealand returns as the reigning champs in the women’s field. The U.S. men are back after upsetting Pakistan and advancing to the Super 8 as first-time participants in 2024.

World Baseball Classic: March 5-17, Japan, Puerto Rico, United States

After the 2023 WBC ended with a superstar clash — Samurai Japan’s Shohei Ohtani vs. U.S. captain Mike Trout — there’s a surge of interest in international baseball. Japan seeks a fourth WBC title while the U.S. strengthened its roster with a wave of commitments from top American players.

The Finalissima: Argentina vs. Spain: March 27, Qatar

This intercontinental showdown, resurrected in 2022, pits the champions of Copa América against the Euro winners. Argentina has won two of the previous three Finalissima. This will be the first meeting between Argentinian legend Lionel Messi and 18-year-old Spanish star Lamine Yamal.

FIFA World Cup: June 11-July 19, United States, Canada, Mexico

Here, again, Argentina are defending champions. The men’s World Cup is back on U.S. soil for the first time since 1994, and since then, the field has doubled in size — expanding from 24 to 32 teams in 1998, and to 48 in 2026 — so there will be games in 11 cities in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada. Team USA has a favorable draw in Group D.

Nations Championship: July 4-18, Nov. 4-29, TBD

This all-new biennial rugby tournament features southern hemisphere teams hosting games in July, and their northern hemisphere counterparts hosting in November before a finals weekend in London. The U.S. is in a lower-division World Rugby Nations Cup running concurrently to the Nations Championship.

Commonwealth Games: July 23-Aug. 2, Scotland

This is the centerpiece of a busy “Games” season that includes the Asian Games (Sept. 19-Oct. 4), Mediterranean Games (Aug. 21-Sept. 3), South American Games (Sept. 12-26), Central American and Caribbean Games (Oct. 30-Nov. 2), Maccabiah Games (June 29-Aug. 14) and Gay Games (June 27-July 4). Many events were either postponed or canceled in 2022.

FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup: Sept. 4-13, Germany

Five-peat? The United States has won four consecutive World Cups — and 11 of 19 in the event’s history — but has to contend with the recurring challenge of the tournament being set in early September. That’s right before the WNBA playoffs typically begin. Perhaps the playoffs will be pushed back. FIBA will move the World Cup to late November in 2030.

Presidents Cup: Sept. 22-27, United States

After failing to defend home turf against the Europeans in a rowdy 2025 Ryder Cup, the Americans hope for a better fate in this round of international play.  They will be heavy favorites over the International Team in Medinah, Ill. The U.S. has lost only once in 15 Presidents Cups.

Rugby League World Cup: Oct. 15-Nov. 15: Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand

A postponement punted yet another quadrennial event to 2026. This World Cup includes men’s, women’s and wheelchair rugby league tournaments running concurrently. In 2021, Australia won the men’s and women’s World Cups, and England won the wheelchair team competition.

That incomplete list doesn’t even cover international championships for handball, futsal, women’s football, field hockey or cross country. It doesn’t include the U-20 Women’s World Cup, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Women’s World Cup qualifying or the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in London, or the World Equestrian Games.

It leaves out one-off events like UFC in Washington D.C., and WWE in Saudi Arabia; college football games in Ireland, Brazil and England; NFL games in Australia, Brazil, Germany, England and Mexico; NBA games in England and Germany; NHL outdoor games in Florida; and MLB games in Mexico and in an Iowa cornfield.

There’s a lot happening — and a lot changing.

---

This isn’t only a busy time for sports. It’s also an interesting sports year, with technology, media restructuring, and league expansion combining to bring broad-brush changes to some familiar institutions.

After consulting colleagues around The Athletic’s newsroom, we’ve circled 2026 changes you should know. Not about specific players or teams. But about which sports leagues are undergoing major structural changes this year.

Formula 1: A regulation overhaul promises to transform the pecking order. It’s rare Formula 1 changes both the car designs and the engines in the same year. Also, a new American broadcast partner (Apple TV), a new team (Cadillac) and a new circuit (Madrid’s Madring circuit).

NASCAR: After growing backlash from fans and drivers, NASCAR will introduce a revamped playoff format in 2026, scrapping the elimination-style playoff and a one-race championship that has been in place since 2014.

WNBA: The league enters a new era with an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal — $200 million annually, compared to $50 million under the previous deal — as collective bargaining agreement negotiations continue. Project B, a new league starting in November, provides players with an alternative winter destination — and is spending to sign big names early.

NWSL: While we’re on the expansion topic, the National Women’s Soccer League welcomes two new teams in 2026, with Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC kicking off their first NWSL games in March.

MLB: While “robo-umps” debut via an automated ball/strike challenge system this season, a potential lockout looms. MLB’s collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. Four years ago, it took 99 days for MLB’s owners and the players’ union to reach an agreement. If owners push for a salary cap, a lockout could drag on far longer this time.

PWHL: The Professional Women’s Hockey League plans to add two to four teams in 2026, and the current barnstorming tour should provide clues as to where new franchises will wind up. The last round of expansion, adding Seattle and Vancouver, came at significant cost to the league’s six original franchises, which had their rosters plundered in the expansion draft.

Boxing: Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing enters the fray, marking its arrival in the boxing world with a media rights deal with Paramount Skydance. The promotion company’s first event with Paramount will reportedly be held Jan. 22 in Las Vegas. White and TKO Group, which owns UFC and WWE, are campaigning to overhaul the Muhammad Ali Act, a law enacted to combat boxer exploitation.

Elsewhere, leagues enter 2026 on the cusp of major change. Take the PGA Tour, for example. With the arrival of a new commissioner, former NFL exec Brian Rolapp, and an influx of private equity investment, the PGA Tour schedule could be on the precipice of dramatic upheaval. Maybe that means rewriting the calendar to start after the Super Bowl. Maybe fewer events and more exclusivity. Maybe the entire competitive model requires a rethink to maintain interest in a crowded sports landscape.

That’s a slightly different category of change, but worth mentioning: decisions that will be made in 2026 but implemented later. This could be the last year of the 68-team NCAA Tournament and the 12-team College Football Playoff. The NBA will decide this year whether to add two teams. The ATP Tour and players are debating numerous rule and schedule changes. College football players have gone to court arguing for a free fifth year of eligibility. Then there’s the 2026 decision that would generate the most headlines of all: another vote on a “tush push” ban.

Welcome to the year of sports. Catch your breath while you still can.