WPP launches unified sports and gaming practice amid shifts in fan engagement and advertising growth

WPP has launched WPP Media Sports, a unified sports and gaming practice, as brands increasingly reassess how to reach and retain audiences whose engagement with sports now spans live events, streaming platforms, social media, creators and gaming environments.

The new practice brings together WPP Media’s existing sports capabilities under a single structure focused on sponsorships, integrations and content, responding to changes in how fans consume and interact with sports. While live sports continue to deliver large real-time audiences, WPP says fan behaviour around viewing, engagement and transactions has become more fragmented across platforms.

WPP Media Sports builds on the company’s existing sports operations, which have handled media planning, partnerships and activations around major global sporting events. The company says the new model is designed to address what it describes as fragmented planning and measurement across sports investments.

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According to WPP Media’s This Year, Next Year forecast, global advertising revenue is projected to grow 8.8% in 2025 to reach $1.14 trillion, driven by AI-enabled efficiencies, new advertiser categories and reinvestment of cost savings into media. Live sports continue to play a central role in that growth, particularly as streaming platforms rely on sports rights to attract and retain audiences and advertisers.

The company argues that extracting value from sports advertising now requires closer coordination between media buying, partnerships, content creation, experiential marketing and analytics. WPP Media Sports is positioned as a response to that shift, aiming to move brands away from one-off sponsorship executions toward longer-term, integrated sports strategies.

Martin Blich, WPP Media Executive Director and Head of U.S. Sports Investment & Partnership, said the focus is on extending brand relevance beyond live game moments by using data and insights to track engagement and business outcomes over time.

A central component of the new practice is its measurement and analytics infrastructure. WPP Media Sports will use proprietary, partner and marketplace data, along with partnerships with GumGum and Relo Metrics, to provide real-time sponsorship measurement and contextual performance analysis across platforms.

Susan Schiekofer, WPP Media’s U.S. Chief Media Officer, said the challenge for brands lies in converting the attention generated by sports into measurable results, rather than simply securing visibility during live events.

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The launch comes ahead of a series of major global sporting events, including Super Bowl LX, the Winter Olympics, and the run-up to the FIFA World Cup 2026. WPP Media Sports will operate across both sports and gaming, reflecting the growing overlap between traditional sports fandom, esports and interactive entertainment.

WPP says the new structure is intended to support continuous optimisation of sports investments, allowing brands to plan, activate and measure performance across multiple platforms and over longer time horizons, rather than relying on isolated campaigns tied to individual events.