Five Sports X Fashion Storylines to Watch in 2026

The following is an excerpt from The Kicks You Wear with Mike D. Sykes, a twice-weekly newsletter on the red hot intersection between sports and fashion. Subscribe to receive future editions.

This year is set to be massive for the relationship between sports and fashion. Two major global competitions in the FIFA World Cup, hosted in North America, and the Olympic Winter Games in Milan are at the top of the priority list for many power players in the fashion world. Many of them will have a large presence at both events.

On top of that, many leagues that have embraced fashion in major ways, like the NFL, the English Premier League, the WNBA, and more, have another year of new insights under their belts to improve future partnerships. There will also surely be some new players entering the fray along the way.

With all that in mind, below are the five biggest storylines to key in on for this year.

1. Who wins the World Cup?: I’m not talking about on the pitch — though, I’d love to know the answer to that, too. But, if you’ve been paying attention to what’s happening around the World Cup, you’ve seen the marketing battle between Nike and Adidas is already underway.

• Nike showed up at Art Basel in December with its Toma soccer tournament, boosted by Travis Scott. The brand is already showing off its headlining product for the World Cup.
• Meanwhile, Adidas unveiled the largest selection of keeper kits in the company’s history for the tournament. The brand also seems to be cooking up something with Trinity Rodman? Not sure what, but she’s undoubtedly the most popular football player in the US these days. Having her on your side is good money.

This summer’s World Cup will be a major moment for fashion and could also be a tipping point for these two brands in particular. Both brands need a boost, with Adidas receiving a downgrade to “Underperform” from Bank of America’s market analysts as it searches for its next moment following the Samba craze. Nike, on the other hand, is in the midst of engineering its own big turnaround.

Football fashion is taking over. Winning here means winning for years to come. Both sides will do their best to secure the victory.

2. Can the Olympics be a boost?: I think it’s safe to say that the brands are ready for Milan.

• Everybody and their mother has an après ski collection, from Nike and Jacquemus to H&M and Perfect Moment.
• Of course, brands like Ralph Lauren and Lululemon, which represent specific national teams, have already launched their Olympic collections as well.
• You’ve even got brands like J. Crew finding their own distinct ways to connect to the games.

This isn’t surprising. Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world. When there’s a big moment in the city, every fashion brand wants in. But part of me wonders whether it’ll be worth it? The Winter Olympics are still a massive moment, but it’s always a smaller one than the summer. There are fewer sports involved with fewer participating athletes and nations. The ratings are never as strong as they are in the summer.

Maybe the Milan location changes that? We’ll find out in a few weeks.

3. It’ll be a big year for M&A: Wall Street has noticed the sportswear boom, too.

There’s been much speculation about Puma’s future following reports the Pinault family had explored selling its 29 percent stake in the company. In December, the company announced that it’d secured around €600 million in financing through a bridge loan, giving it more financial flexibility to implement a turnaround.

That hasn’t stopped the deal rumours. An Adidas-Puma tie-up may be a pipe dream, but on Thursday, Reuters reported that China’s Anta Sports had offered to buy the Pinault stake.

Then there’s Converse. While Nike has never outright said that Converse’s future under the brand’s umbrella is up in the air, that hasn’t stopped people from predicting that Nike could move on from it sooner rather than later. That speculation was fueled after Nike disclosed in a regulatory filling that its demand creation budget for the brand – reflecting investment in marketing and other promotional activity – shrank by 44 percent in the company’s second quarter. Weighing against a sale is that CEO Elliott Hill said around the same time as the filing that a Converse turnaround as one of Nike’s biggest goals for 2026. The company also has activations planned for Nike, Jordan Brand and Converse at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in February.

There’s plenty of other boardroom intrigue that will play out this year. At Lululemon, founder Chip Wilson has launched a proxy fight, and activist investor Elliott Investment Management disclosed a $1 billion stake. Under Armour shares recently surged after Fairfax Financial Holdings, an investment firm run by “Canada’s Warren Buffett,” disclosed a 22 percent stake in the struggling brand.

4. What will be the next sport to seize its moment? The fusion of sports and fashion has worked extremely well for some sports. For example, tennis really blossomed around the US Open at the tail end of last summer. Is there another moment like that for another sport awaiting us in 2026?

A few examples: The upstart track league, Athlos, caught a lot of attention this fall and is preparing to spread next year. The NWSL’s use of Domo Wells as a creative director has women’s football positioned well heading into the new year. Could the Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league have another breakthrough as it continues to expand? There’s also a real possibility that we don’t know which sport it is that might break out.

A league doesn’t always have to be involved, either — just look at the pickleball and run club fads. Maybe 2026 is the year recreational chess breaks out onto the fashion scene? We’ll see.

5. Where will Steph Curry land?: Stephen Curry’s sneaker free agency has been one of the most entertaining things to happen in the footwear industry in quite some time, but a free agent has to sign somewhere eventually.

Curry is world-famous and is one of the best basketball players of his generation. He’d been a collaborator at Under Armour since 2013 after his departure from Nike. In 2020, Curry and Under Armour launched a new Curry Brand — similar to Nike’s Jordan Brand — where the NBA superstar ran it. He signed talent and created product lines while also wearing his own signature shoes.

At the tail end of 2025, Curry and Under Armour abruptly separated, leaving the star as a sneaker free agent to sign wherever he wants. Curry has been spotted in every brand except Under Armour over the last few weeks. There’s no indication of where he might go, but a free agent has to sign somewhere eventually.

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