Below you'll find the top 50 sports trends for 2026, spotted by Rising Trends's trend radar algorithm.
These topics were detected from online sources including TikTok, X (Twitter), Instagram, Reddit, news outlets, and Google Search data. Each trend has at least 1,000+ monthly searches and over 20% year-over-year growth.
All sports trends with over 20% year-over-year growth, ranked by search volume.
| # | Topic | 5Y Trend | Search Vol. | Growth 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Cup | 151,000,000 | +99X | |
| 2 | Wc Bracket | 37,200,000 | +99X | |
| 3 | Usa Soccer Jersey | 823,000 | 30X | |
| 4 | Electric Dirt Bikes | 450,000 | +50% | |
| 5 | Adidas Mexico Jersey | 450,000 | 30X | |
| 6 | Soccer Jerseys | 301,000 | +174% | |
| 7 | Fifa Fan Fest Philadelphia | 246,000 | +99X | |
| 8 | Round Of 32 | 246,000 | +99X | |
| 9 | Fan Fest | 165,000 | 31X | |
| 10 | Nissan Stadium | 165,000 | +50% | |
| 11 | World Cup Stickers | 165,000 | +99X | |
| 12 | Decathlon | 135,000 | +49% | |
| 13 | Military Calisthenics | 135,000 | +99X | |
| 14 | Spain Jersey | 135,000 | 11X | |
| 15 | Ultimate Sports Engineering | 110,000 | +22% | |
| 16 | Padel | 110,000 | +22% | |
| 17 | Bears Moving To Indiana | 90,500 | +99X | |
| 18 | Live Tv | 74,000 | +49% | |
| 19 | Sports Cards | 74,000 | +22% | |
| 20 | World Cup Simulator | 60,500 | 47X | |
| 21 | Hyrox Workout | 60,500 | +22% | |
| 22 | Trading Cards | 60,500 | +49% | |
| 23 | World Cup Merch | 60,500 | +99X | |
| 24 | Chicago Bears Moving To Indiana | 60,500 | +99X | |
| 25 | Arizona Athletic Grounds | 49,500 | +22% | |
| 26 | Free Espn Trial | 49,500 | +309% | |
| 27 | Electric Mountain Bike | 49,500 | +22% | |
| 28 | Simulation Racing | 40,500 | +22% | |
| 29 | Pba Bowling | 40,500 | +49% | |
| 30 | World Cup Bets | 40,500 | +99X | |
| 31 | World Cup Betting | 40,500 | +99X | |
| 32 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena | 33,100 | +49% | |
| 33 | Sports Streaming | 33,100 | +49% | |
| 34 | Social Sports | 33,100 | +124% | |
| 35 | Garmin Forerunner 970 | 27,100 | +50% | |
| 36 | Lego World Cup Trophy | 27,100 | +99X | |
| 37 | Sports Research | 27,100 | +124% | |
| 38 | Running Club | 27,100 | +83% | |
| 39 | Kinetic Park | 27,100 | +22% | |
| 40 | Graded Trading Cards | 22,200 | 12X | |
| 41 | Cocodona 250 | 18,100 | +123% | |
| 42 | Second Apron Nba | 18,100 | +50% | |
| 43 | Flyball | 18,100 | +22% | |
| 44 | La28 | 18,100 | +235% | |
| 45 | Ncaa Eligibility | 14,800 | +49% | |
| 46 | Live Sports Streaming | 14,800 | +174% | |
| 47 | Wingfoil | 14,800 | +22% | |
| 48 | Streaming Sports | 14,800 | +83% | |
| 49 | Teambuilder | 14,800 | +22% | |
| 50 | Premium Putter | 14,800 | 31X |
Showing top 10 of 50 sports trends
| Category | Market Size | Growth | Leaders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Soccer & World Cup | ~$50B | ~12.5% CAGR | FIFA, Adidas, Fanatics |
| Racquet Sports | ~$3.2B | ~13.8% CAGR | Selkirk, Joola, USA Pickleball |
| Women's Pro Sports | ~$2.4B | ~15.4% CAGR | NWSL, WNBA, PWHL |
| Live Sports Experiences | ~$9B | ~10.5% CAGR | Savannah Bananas, Cosm |
| Motorsport | ~$6.5B | ~9.2% CAGR | Formula 1, Red Bull |
| Golf Tech & Tours | ~$8B | ~10.0% CAGR | TrackMan, PGA Tour |
CAGR = compound annual growth rate
We rebuilt this list on July 13, 2026 from our live trend database, the same feed that powers the table above. The headline: 2026 is a World Cup year on North American soil, and search interest has swung toward global soccer, women's pro leagues, live-sport spectacles, and the technology fans use to watch. Every search-volume and growth figure below is pulled from that live data.
If you want to explore more trends like this across categories, sign up for Rising Trends and unlock the full experience.
The single biggest story in sports search is the World Cup. "World cup" now pulls 1,830,000 monthly searches with +644% year-over-year growth, and for once the timing is not a coincidence: the 2026 tournament is co-hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the first World Cup on North American soil since 1994 and the first with a 48-team field. That interest is already spilling into every adjacent search, from brackets to jerseys to sticker albums.
A home-continent World Cup compresses a decade of soccer growth into a single summer. Search behavior shows fans preparing months ahead, researching schedules, host cities, and merchandise long before the opening match.
World Cup interest is surging because:
World Cup (1,830,000 searches, +644% YoY): The defining sports search of the year, climbing as the North American tournament approaches.
Adidas Mexico Jersey (90,500 searches, +1,271% YoY): Host-nation kits are among the fastest-rising merchandise searches, with Mexico leading the pack.
USA Soccer Jersey (74,000 searches, +309% YoY): Home-nation pride is driving jersey demand as the US prepares to host.
WC Bracket (301,000 searches): A breakout as fans build and share knockout-round predictions ahead of the draw.
FIFA Fan Fest (22,200 searches): A breakout around the official fan festivals planned for host cities.
World Cup Stickers (110,000 searches): A breakout collectible search, as sticker albums return as a pre-tournament tradition.
Pickleball has graduated from backyard novelty to genuine mass sport. "Pickleball" holds 823,000 monthly searches, up 50% over the past six months, while equipment and facility searches show the ecosystem maturing around it. "Pickleball paddle" pulls 368,000 searches (+22% YoY) and "pickleball courts" is up +82% over the past three months at 301,000 searches.
The tell is not the core term, which is already huge, but the supporting searches. When people start hunting for paddles and courts, a sport has moved from curiosity to commitment.
Pickleball and its cousins keep growing because:
Pickleball (823,000 searches, +50% over six months): The core term remains one of the highest-volume sports searches outside the major leagues.
Pickleball Paddle (368,000 searches, +22% YoY): Equipment demand signals a player base that is buying in, not just trying it once.
Pickleball Courts (301,000 searches, +82% over three months): Facility searches are rising fastest, a sign that access is the current bottleneck.
The fastest-moving structural shift in sports is the rise of women's professional leagues, and search data captures it before the TV ratings do. The NWSL is up +643% over the past three months at 368,000 searches, the PWHL hockey league holds 301,000 searches (+82% YoY), and expansion franchises are exploding: the Golden State Valkyries have surged nearly twentyfold over the past six months to 246,000 searches, and the Toronto Tempo has broken out to 201,000 ahead of its WNBA debut.
New teams, new media deals, and sold-out arenas are compounding at once. When an expansion franchise generates six-figure search volume before it plays a game, the demand is real.
Women's professional sports are breaking through because:
NWSL (368,000 searches, +643% over three months): The top women's soccer league is spiking as new clubs and broadcast deals land.
PWHL (301,000 searches, +82% YoY): Professional women's hockey has quickly built a durable, growing search base.
Golden State Valkyries (246,000 searches, up nearly twentyfold over six months): The WNBA's newest franchise turned its launch into one of the year's biggest team-search stories.
Toronto Tempo (201,000 searches): A breakout for the WNBA's incoming Canadian expansion team, months before tip-off.
Boston Legacy FC (27,100 searches, +516% YoY): A rising NWSL expansion club, evidence the growth reaches well beyond the marquee names.
Fans increasingly want a show, not just a scoreboard, and a cluster of experiential formats is capturing that demand. The Savannah Bananas, the barnstorming exhibition-baseball act, pull 823,000 monthly searches, up +235% over the past three months. Ballpark events are trending too, with Wrigley Field up +307% over three months at 550,000 searches. On the technology side, immersive venues are breaking through: Cosm in Los Angeles is up +173% YoY at 165,000 searches, its Atlanta location has surged more than sixteenfold, and Oakley Meta glasses have broken out to 201,000 as wearable viewing enters the mix.
The common thread is presence. Whether it is a choreographed baseball spectacle, a concert at a historic ballpark, or an immersive 8K dome, fans are paying for an experience that a home broadcast cannot replicate.
Live sports experiences are surging because:
Savannah Bananas (823,000 searches, +235% over three months): The sport-as-entertainment phenomenon that sells out major-league stadiums.
Wrigley Field (550,000 searches, +307% over three months): The historic ballpark is trending as a destination for games, concerts, and events.
Cosm Los Angeles (165,000 searches, +173% YoY): Immersive "shared reality" domes are turning live viewing into a premium night out.
Cosm Atlanta (60,500 searches, up more than sixteenfold YoY): The venue's expansion drove one of the fastest-rising experience searches of the year.
Oakley Meta Glasses (201,000 searches): A breakout in wearable cameras, as fans look to capture live events from the stands.
Formula 1 remains one of the largest sports searches on the internet, and it is heating up again. "Formula 1" pulls 2,740,000 monthly searches and is up +174% over the past three months as the season builds toward its North American races. The sport's US expansion, its streaming-era storytelling, and a new generation of fans have reset motorsport's ceiling. Alongside it, electrified and off-road riding is climbing: "electric dirt bikes" pull 450,000 searches, up +124% over three months.
Motorsport spent the last few years converting a documentary audience into a search audience. The payoff is a fan base that follows the calendar, the standings, and the machinery year-round.
Racing interest is climbing because:
Formula 1 (2,740,000 searches, +174% over three months): One of the biggest sports searches anywhere, reheating as the calendar hits its marquee races.
Electric Dirt Bikes (450,000 searches, +124% over three months): Electrified off-road riding is pulling a younger audience into motorsport.
Red Bull (450,000 searches): The energy-drink brand doubles as a motorsport and extreme-sports powerhouse, sustaining a large, steady search base.
Golf keeps widening its audience through technology and lifestyle appeal. The broad term "golfing" pulls 1,000,000 monthly searches, up +49% over the past three months, while tour interest and gear searches climb alongside it. The DP World Tour is up +82% YoY at 110,000 searches, launch-monitor maker Rapsodo holds 40,500 searches (+82% YoY), and golf-lifestyle label Malbon is up +83% YoY at 74,000 searches, blending streetwear with the fairway.
The modern golf search splits three ways: play, gear, and culture. Simulators and launch monitors bring practice indoors, tours globalize the pro game, and lifestyle brands make the sport feel current to a younger crowd.
Golf interest is expanding because:
Golfing (1,000,000 searches, +49% over three months): The broad interest term sits among the largest sports searches, reflecting the game's mainstream pull.
Malbon (74,000 searches, +83% YoY): The golf-lifestyle brand blending streetwear and fairway style for a younger audience.
DP World Tour (110,000 searches, +82% YoY): Rising interest in the global professional circuit beyond the US majors.
Rapsodo (40,500 searches, +82% YoY): Consumer launch monitors are democratizing the data that used to be tour-only.
Odyssey AI Putters (74,000 searches): A breakout in AI-assisted equipment, a sign the tech story now reaches the green.
The sports landscape of 2026 is defined by a home-soil World Cup (1.83M searches, +644%), the continued scaling of pickleball (823K), and the breakout of women's pro sports led by the NWSL (+643% over three months) and expansion teams like the Golden State Valkyries. Fans are paying for experiences from the Savannah Bananas to immersive Cosm domes, Formula 1 is reheating (+174% over three months), and golf keeps widening its reach through tech and lifestyle.
The winning trends in sports now share these characteristics:
For entrepreneurs and investors, the data points to several high-growth opportunities: World Cup merchandise and collectibles, pickleball equipment and facilities, women's-sports media and fan products, experiential venues and viewing tech, and golf technology. See how Rising Trends helps you find trending sports products before they peak.
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