Kirsty Coventry
President, International Olympic Committee
Kirsty Coventry made history in 2025 when she became the first woman and first person from Africa to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In her first full year in office, the Zimbabwean will begin implementing her vision for the Olympic movement while confronting a set of challenges unique to what is arguably the most powerful position in global sport.
The 42-year-old appeared unfazed by her label as the continuity candidate when succeeding Thomas Bach, but she will now be keen to put her own stamp on the presidency in what is a significant year for the IOC. Milan-Cortina 2026 will be the first Games to take place during Coventry’s tenure, with the Winter Olympics needing to prove its long-term viability at a time when environmental and cost pressures are reducing the pool of hosts.
A former government minister in Zimbabwe, Coventry has already shown signs of the resilience that will be required in a role where her decisions are likely to be publicly dissected. A stance has been taken on the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian youth athletes and an early 2026 target has been set to announce eligibility criteria for transgender athletes, while Coventry referenced her experience of dealing with “difficult men in high positions” when asked about engaging with US president Donald Trump.
Beyond that, Coventry must oversee the host city selection process for future Games, with the 2036 edition most pressing. She must also rebuild trust in areas such as anti-doping, governance and athlete welfare, while also ensuring the Olympics remain relevant for younger audiences and sponsors amid shifting consumption habits.
It is a sizeable in-tray that reflects the scope and scrutiny of the IOC presidency. Though she is only at the start of her eight-year mandate, how Coventry approaches these challenges over the next 12 months will offer the first real glimpse into what her leadership looks like.
David Ellison
Chairman and Chief Executive, Paramount
Recent years have seen David Ellison’s profile catapult from a well-known executive in studio production circles into one of the most influential figures in US broadcasting. In 2026, his profile will be elevated even further – in sport and beyond – as he plays a crucial role in determining what the future of media might look like across the globe.
Skydance’s US$8.4 billion merger with Paramount handed Ellison junior the keys to CBS Sports, the Paramount+ streaming service and one of Hollywood’s most storied studios. Now, with the help of his father Larry – the Oracle founder and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals – he is pushing for even greater influence with an audacious bid to acquire the entirety of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).
Although WBD has agreed to sell its content and streaming unit to Netflix, Paramount has submitted a hostile US$108 billion bid for the entire company. It would unite two linear network empires, two of the biggest movie production operations in the world, and two of the most historic sports divisions in the US. More than that, it would create a streaming heavyweight with the content and scale to challenge even Netflix.
With Paramount already making big moves for the Uefa Champions League in Europe and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the US, it’s clear Ellison sees sport as a key asset. The implications for sport in the US are obvious. But a merger would have huge ramifications globally given Ellison would gain control of TNT Sports in the UK and Latin America, as well as Eurosport and HBO Max in markets around the world.
Even if the deal doesn’t come off, Paramount’s pursuit of WBD has ignited a wider debate about what the global streaming-based future of broadcasting will look like. And Ellison clearly plans to have a big say in it.
Donald Trump
President, USA
It is no small thing that Donald Trump’s second term in the White House will coincide with the world’s two biggest international sporting events landing on American soil. The first of those arrives this summer, when the United States hosts the 2026 Fifa World Cup alongside its neighbours Canada and Mexico, offering an irresistible political platform for a president who has put sport front and centre of his return to the Oval Office. 
The majority of games are taking place in the US and Trump will be one of the tournament’s main characters, aided by his close bond with Fifa president Gianni Infantino. That relationship drew scrutiny following the World Cup draw in December, when Infantino was accused of breaching the global soccer body’s rules on political neutrality after awarding Trump the organisation’s inaugural – and controversial – peace prize.
There will be more opportunities for Trump – who last appeared on this list in 2017 – to bask in the global attention of hosting soccer’s flagship international tournament. But it is his administration’s policies which could have the biggest impact on the first edition of the event to feature 48 teams. Fans of participating nations like Senegal, Iran and Côte d’Ivoire may face travel restrictions entering the US, while Trump has threatened to move games from democratic-run cities he deems unsafe. There are also wider questions about relations between the co-hosts and mounting criticism over extortionate ticket prices as kick-off approaches.
Those probably aren’t the storylines Fifa and its partners would have been hoping for heading into the event, which has long been talked about as the moment soccer will truly take off in the US. However Trump chooses to show up, he will be a ubiquitous presence at the 2026 World Cup, providing a potential preview of what the world, and indeed the IOC, could expect at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Emily Prazer
Chief Commercial Officer, Formula One and President and Chief Executive, Las Vegas Grand Prix
There have been many drivers of Formula One’s recent commercial renaissance, but one constant has been Emily Prazer. Elevated to chief commercial officer in January 2024, the Brit has risen through the ranks during her eight years with the global motorsport series, most notably playing an instrumental role in the financial success of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which in just three years has become arguably the most commercially attractive race on the calendar.
Prazer’s rise has mirrored a period of exponential commercial growth for the sport. Formula One’s sponsorship revenue reached US$634.4 million in 2024, and Prazer’s first year in her current role delivered 13 major partnerships, headlined by the unprecedented ten-season deal with LVMH Group reportedly worth US$150 million annually. Further deals with Allwyn, ALT Sports Data, Barilla, PwC, and PepsiCo followed in 2025, while Prazer has also accelerated the expansion of the series’ licensing business, leading to last year’s memorable activation with toy giant Lego.
Even with significant revenue locked in for the foreseeable future, attention now turns to sustaining momentum into 2026, which is a pivotal year for Formula One. Next season brings new technical regulations, a new concorde agreement and, perhaps most intriguingly, the new General Motors-backed Cadillac team, offering an opportunity to capitalise on Formula One’s growth in the US, where its US$750 million broadcast deal with Apple also begins this year.
A larger grid, though, means revenues will need to stretch even further. Prazer’s challenge now will be to vindicate Formula One’s belief that adding a prestigious American brand to the championship will not dilute resources, but instead deliver more commercial value for the series.
Marc Allera
Chair, Global Sport Group
Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in British telecommunications over the past decade, Marc Allera called time on his stint as chief executive of EE and BT’s consumer division in April, ending nine years at the helm of the UK’s largest subscription business. The industry veteran soon resurfaced at CVC Capital Partners, the private equity giant with €200 billion in assets under management, where he will be pulling the purse strings for the Luxembourg-based company’s new Global Sport Group (GSG). 
Few private equity firms have as deep or long a relationship with sport as CVC. As chair of GSG, Allera oversees a division that houses the firm’s stakes in leagues and governing bodies such as LaLiga, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Volleyball World, as well as rugby union competitions like the Six Nations and Prem Rugby. Reports value GSG at approximately US$14 billion, making it the largest dedicated sports fund in the private equity space.
With a proven track record of growing consumer businesses, Allera will tap into three decades of experience across media, technology and sports as he decides where CVC will spend its money next, while also extracting greater value from its existing investments.
However, GSG is one of a number of sports-focused funds that have been established in recent months as private equity involvement in the industry enters its next phase, buoyed by the continued rise of team valuations and new media models.
In that context, the launch of GSG is a signal of CVC’s intent to remain a leading force within the industry. With fresh capital reportedly on the way, a refinancing of existing debt rumoured to be under consideration and designs on expanding in North America, GSG appears to be tooling up for a fresh wave of acquisitions, positioning Allera as one of sport’s most active dealmakers for the next 12 months.
Valerie Camillo
Chair, Women’s Tennis Association
Valerie Camillo has built a career spanning blue-chip corporations like IBM, working in the league office at the National Basketball Association (NBA) and driving revenue for the likes of the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Flyers. But in her new post as chair of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the American has stepped into what even she has acknowledged is among the most complicated stakeholder environments in all of sport.
There has been plenty of evidence of that over the past 12 months. Indeed, Camillo arrives as the leading women’s and men’s tours remain locked i
n a power struggle with the Grand Slams, while a growing number of players have been voicing their discontent over the demands of the tennis calendar and how revenue is distributed throughout the sport.
In amongst all that, the WTA has been enjoying a period of commercial momentum. Since the 2023 launch of WTA Ventures – which Camillo will also chair – the tour has undergone a major rebrand, taken its season-ending finals to Saudi Arabia and secured the largest sponsorship deal in its history with Mercedes-Benz at the end of last year.
Appointed in October as the successor to the long-serving Steve Simon, Camillo’s commercial pedigree will no doubt have appealed to an organisation now aiming to treble revenue by 2029. Yet the true measure of her success in the role may come at the negotiating table, as the WTA works towards a long-mooted commercial merger with the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Recent reporting suggests that the two sides are perhaps further apart than ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi suggested in October, placing Camillo at the centre of efforts to ensure that the women’s tour secures a fair deal.
With new leadership now in place on both the men’s and women’s side of the game, 2026 provides an opportunity for Camillo to be a key figure in turning the promise of greater alignment in tennis into tangible progress.
Scott O’Neil
Chief Executive, LIV Golf
Having formerly headed up Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), the influential ownership group behind several top teams on both sides of the Atlantic, Scott O’Neil is an experienced operator in the world of sports business. More than anything, though, he’s a personable pragmatist who seems set on playing the role of peacemaker for his new paymasters at LIV Golf.
At a time of deep division within the sport, the American is someone who has the commercial acumen and broad connections to help bring the breakaway tour closer to the golfing establishment. Since replacing Greg Norman, LIV’s combative founding figurehead, in January 2025, O’Neil has struck a noticeably conciliatory tone, proactively engaging in talks over the future of the game with his new counterpart at the PGA Tour, Brian Rolapp, and DP World Tour boss Guy Kinnings.
Many within the men’s game, not least top players and major sponsors, will be hoping the sport’s leadership can finally bury the hatchet and find common ground to end golf’s civil war. A landscape-altering merger is in the offing, of course, but O’Neil’s immediate priorities are clear. Under him, the circuit has shifted its tournament format from 54 to 72 holes, ostensibly to gain much-coveted Official World Golf Rankings points, while commercial growth and international expansion remain top of the to-do list for O’Neil and his newly assembled leadership team.
In 2025, LIV signed a global broadcast partnership with DAZN and brought in blue-chip brands like Salesforce, HSBC, Qualcomm and Porsche. But with reports suggesting Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV’s financier since its inception in 2022, is running low on funds, pressure will be mounting on O’Neil to ensure the big-spending, loss-making circuit stops haemorrhaging money.
After his first year in the job, O’Neil will be keenly aware of the challenges at hand as LIV enters its fifth season. Profitability won’t come in 2026 but plotting the path to long-term financial sustainability will be his chief focus over the coming months.
Shay Segev
Chief Executive, DAZN
Few ventures in sports broadcasting have attracted as much attention as DAZN. It first made its mark as a ‘Netflix for sport’, disrupting the established order in Europe, before evolving into an ‘all-in-one’ digital sports platform where live streaming sits within a wider portfolio of services. 
The second phase of that journey has been spearheaded by chief executive Shay Segev, who joined from Entain in 2021 with a mandate to reduce DAZN’s dependence on subscription income, build a scalable platform and rein in losses. Through partnerships, acquisitions and internal development, DAZN now has betting, ticketing and merchandise capabilities, while it has integrated several subscription and ad-supported third-party DTC services.
As a result, DAZN no longer needs to own premium rights; it just needs as many sports fans using its platform for as long as possible so it can monetise them through multiple means.
Under Segev’s leadership, DAZN has secured billion-dollar partnerships with Fifa, helped accelerate the end of pay-per-view (PPV) in sports broadcasting and offered a new route to market for rights holders eager to generate revenues from DTC without the associated hassle. It has also secured outside investment from Saudi Arabia as it continues to pursue its global ambitions.
Meanwhile, there have been contractual disputes with top-flight soccer leagues in France and Belgium, indicating that DAZN is willing to walk away from deals it believes are not commercially viable, which could upend the basic principles of traditional media rights agreements in which broadcasters assume the bulk of the risk.
The next 12 months, though, are set to define Segev’s tenure. In 2026, DAZN will relaunch Fifa+ as the ‘global home of football’ in a men’s World Cup year and continue to be at the forefront of Saudi’s growing influence on world sport. But, perhaps most significantly, the company finally expects to achieve profitability – paving the way for a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).
Napheesa Collier 
Professional Athlete
Already a five-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star, Napheesa Collier has now established herself as one of the game’s most influential figures. She’s also at the heart of one of the most consequential negotiations of 2026 which could have far-reaching implications for female athlete compensation.
As a vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), the 29-year-old is among the leading voices pushing to secure better salaries and more professional working conditions within a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), as the union seeks to ensure its members are rewarded for their role in the WNBA’s ongoing commercial growth.
Tensions reached boiling point last year when talks stalled and Collier publicly criticised the WNBA and its commissioner Cathy Engelbert over a perceived lack of accountability, branding the league’s leadership as “the worst in the world”. It was a largely unprecedented move, but one that was emblematic of the growing stature of an individual who has the trust of her peers, who had opted out of the current CBA in 2024.
Indeed, Collier’s influence extends well beyond the court. As co-founder of three-on-three basketball league Unrivaled, she has helped create a player-centric alternative offering higher pay, better standards and equity stakes – giving the competition’s stars a direct share in its success. With revenues topping US$27 million in 2025 and the venture nearly breaking even in its first season, Unrivaled has raised player expectations and put further pressure on the WNBA to narrow the gap.
Collier is ultimately reshaping the future of women’s basketball from the inside. The next 12 months will reveal whether her leverage contributes to what the players deem a more favourable CBA, which will be crucial if the WNBA is to avoid a potentially damaging lockout.
Eddy Cue
Senior Vice President of Services, Apple
Apple has routinely been linked with premium sports rights ever since putting the industry on notice with its landmark US$2.5 billion global deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2022. Yet, aside from securing a package of Major League Baseball (MLB) games, that hasn’t quite translated into the lavish spending many had hoped for.
Despite renegotiating its MLS partnership last year, Apple underlined that its interest in live sport remains genuine by agreeing to pay a reported US$750 million for the US rights to Formula One for the next five years following the success of its F1 Movie. The agreement not only brings one of America’s fastest-growing, culturally relevant properties to Apple TV, but also signals a willingness to pursue regional – as well as global – deals if it’s the right strategic fit.
The public face of Apple’s sports activity to date has been Eddy Cue, whose remit as senior vice president of services encompasses almost everything that isn’t hardware – including the company’s subscription streaming platform. A lifelong sports fan, Cue has talked up the tech giant’s interest in expanding its live rights portfolio, while arguing that the sports viewing experience has “gone backwards”. Its Formula One deal will therefore offer a clearer glimpse of how Apple intends to rethink sports broadcasting, including how it will leverage its ecosystem of products and services to enhance its coverage.
More broadly, there is a growing recognition that live sport remains one of the few genres capable of driving subscriptions. With the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ increasing their investment in sports content, Apple can arguably no longer afford to sit on the sidelines if it wants to keep pace with its competitors in the streaming space.
Having joined the company in 1989, Cue has helped shape several chapters in Apple’s evolution. The sports industry is now watching to see whether he is about to do so again.
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