IMG launches Digital Trends Report 2025: D2C gamification, AI personalization and wearables

Today, IMG launched its Digital Trends Report 2025, exploring the technologies and developments that will shape the sports media landscape for rightsholders over the next 12 months. Featuring insights and analysis from IMG’s global team of digital experts, this year’s predictions explore how D2C strategy is pivoting from non-premium content to gamification, the notion that there is no ‘first’ and ‘second screen’, and the true age of wearables – among others. 

The report, now in its seventh year, has also ranked the 12 most important third-party media platforms for the global sports industry for the second time. The platforms are ranked based on a detailed analysis of their audience profile and growth, commercial potential, and the functionality they offer rightsholders and users, and more.

This year’s edition has crowned YouTube as the priority platform for the sports industry due to its ability to reach, engage and monetize audiences, followed by Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. The rankings place Reddit as the year’s biggest riser, climbing four places to sixth, as fans are increasingly drawn towards community-focused platforms. The 2025 Platform Power Rankings are as follows:

1. YouTube 
2. Instagram 
3. TikTok 
4. Facebook 
5. WhatsApp 
6. Reddit 
7. X/Twitter 
8. Discord  
9. Snap 
10. Threads 
11. LinkedIn 
12. Twitch 

IMG’s Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Digital, Lewis Wiltshire said: “2024 has seen a clear advancement in direct-to-consumer strategy and a widespread industry shift towards community-focused platforms, among other trends. This is reflected in our platform power ranking, which has seen notable changes to the top 10, as opportunities for rightsholders and dynamics among digital channels evolve. Each year, we’re proud to present the sports industry with a clear view of the technology and trends to be aware of over the next 12 months and our seventh edition is no exception, as we look to guide our partners on their digital strategy via our deep network of specialist expertise.”  

Headline predictions from the Digital Trends Report 2025 include:

• There is no ‘first’ and ‘second’ screen: By any measure, sports are more popular now than ever. Networks and streaming services are paying increasing fees for access to the world’s best events, and nearly 24 million people in the UK watched England’s Euro 2024 final defeat. Yet, while sports dominates the big screen, our phones dominate our attention. 2025 will see sports abandon the notion of ‘first screen’ and ‘second screen’ and put more emphasis into winning the battle for both screens – at the same time.

• Phones still reign, but 2025 starts the true age of wearables: Snap, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple are increasing their investment in tech that attempts to integrate seamlessly into our lives and onto our bodies. Millions of us have bought and used these devices, but they have not yet displaced the smartphone. 2025 will be the year when wearable tech finally starts to compete with the phone for our attention. With the glance of an eye, users could soon find themselves connected to music, their fitness stats, or the Internet. Screentime may reduce on your smartphone, but your digital connection could now become permanent. Wearables are for real, and sports need to prepare for a world of potentially infinite user data and distraction.

• AI: Personalization not personalities: It’s been two years since generative artificial intelligence (AI) came to mainstream prominence with the launch of ChatGPT. In 2024, we saw a mixture of high-profile successes regarding fan-facing generative AI activations, including Peacock’s coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics, as well as some expensive failed experiments across various industries. Now, we are seeing what fans and viewers want from AI. Meta’s attempt to replicate one-to-one fan interactions at scale through AI celebrity chatbots demonstrated there is minimal appetite to engage with artificially created characters or celebrity interactions. Fans want personalization, not personalities.

• People want answers not results: 2025 marks the abrupt end to the traditional method of searching for topics and visiting websites with relevant editorial content. The new world order will see AI summarize results in just a few seconds. In a world of précis, your website needs to become the ultimate source of truth, not just a generator of unclicked results in a search query.

• Number disruption: One fundamental way the internet has changed the world is to make abundance normal. A brand can reach scale – of audience, video views, app downloads – for low marginal cost, and an end user can access all the media in existence. Abundance means sports clubs and leagues can cite big numbers around their content or their fan services, as fan passion generates impressive impressions, views and engagements. In this context, we must question the value and real-world meaning of such big numbers and work to pair them with metrics which represent true community engagement.

• D2C pivots from non-premium content to utility and gamification: To date, many sports organizations have tried to stand up a D2C value proposition that is underpinned by their least valuable content as they license their premium rights to third parties. In 2025 we will see a marked shift in the way sports address the D2C opportunity. Instead of launching standalone offerings where the value proposition is non-premium content, they will pivot towards creating new value propositions based on participation, gamification and rewards.

• Sports monetizes short-form and non-live content: In recent years, sports organizations have seen outsized performance growth from their vertical video and short-form content output. Leagues, teams and athletes have been reporting continued follower and consumption growth from the emergence of platforms like TikTok and formats like YouTube’s Shorts and Instagram’s Reels. However, they haven’t yet seen a significant commercial return. That will change in 2025. As with other media in the past, revenue models have lagged consumer attention but next year, sports will start to monetize their short-form and non-live rights in a meaningful way.

Visit here to view the full report.