What Will Be New In Televised Sport Coverage In 2026?

The world of sport never stands still and, increasingly, that is true of sports coverage as well. It is not just that more of it is shown on TV or that new technology has been introduced over the years, but that sport now finds itself at the cutting edge of innovation.

For this reason, any TV production company needs to keep up with technology and also how it is presented and packaged to come up with the final product.

To understand how sports coverage on TV has changed, we could look at obvious things, such as how it has moved on from black and white newsreels when even slow motion was a novelty, through to modern, high definition blanket coverage with cameras at multiple angles.

Alternatively, we could examine how different sports have been changed by TV technology.

How Did Colour TV Change Snooker And Tennis?

As the snooker world mourns the death of John Virgo, much has been made of his role in popularising the sport on TV. But before he was a commentator, he was a player at a time when the sport benefited hugely from the arrival of colour TV.

Many will have heard the commentator’s gaffe: “If you are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green”, but the actual shades of ball colour were changed to make it easier for the cameras to pick them up.

Snooker is not the only sport where this has happened, with tennis balls changing from white to yellow for the same reason in the 1970s.

David Attenborough, the head of the BBC, was responsible both for this change and the introduction of snooker to TV in response to the arrival of colour pictures.

Colour TV was just the first of the many innovations in TV sport coverage that changed the sport itself. The use of high definition TV and ever more sophisticated slow motion replays has made it a player in the game.

Why Did The 1932 FA Cup Final Make The First Case For VAR?

The potential for this to happen was highlighted nearly a century ago by incidents such as a goal in the 1932 FA Cup Final, when the cameras indicated the ball was out of play before it was crossed.

Still pictures confirmed this was the case and the game became known as the ‘Over the Line Final’, with Newcastle United, who scored the disputed goal, beating Arsenal 2-1.

Nowadays, such a goal would be disallowed after a VAR check and this kind of decision-making has become the norm.

However, as we look towards the major sporting events of 2026, we can see that these innovations may be taken further. This now includes proposals for VAR checks for corner kicks and second yellow cards in the football World Cup.

This is intended to resolve anomalies such as the fact that a goal can be checked, but not the circumstances in which a goal-scoring chance (such as a corner) might come about, but it comes at the cost of more delays to the game.

Such innovations may also reflect the fact that, while the competition is being co-hosted by three countries, Mexico and Canada will have comparatively small roles to play, especially in the latter stages. That means American TV and its audiences will be centre-stage.

Some of that will lead to features such as a Superbowl-style half time show in the final, as well as the screening of adverts during hot weather drinks breaks.

Anyone watching the Super Bowl will be familiar with the stop-start nature of the event, which is in contrast with the way association football is normally played, making the event more geared towards the way Americans watch sport.

However, TV-based innovations will not just shape the sport on the field, but also add to the viewer experience.

How Will Viewer Experiences Change?

According to Forbes, an emerging feature of sports coverage in 2026 will be the growth of immersive sports broadcasting, which will enable fans to view in virtual reality 3D and feel like they are sitting right next to the arena in a front row seat.

Not all of this will be seen on screens in the UK and it may not be what every viewer is looking for. But we already see virtual reality in the form of semi-automated offsides in football and Hawkeye images of where the ball lands in challenged line calls at Wimbledon.

Not everyone will want to raise the bar to that level. For example, if you want coverage of your local non-league football team, clear images, good editing to build up a highlights package and the possible use of drone footage may be as far as you need to go.

Nonetheless, 2026 will see new changes in how TV and sport interact, with more graphics, data and novelty than ever.