New “Keeping the Score” paper maps nine measurement challenges and emerging solutions; CIMM to convene industry leaders at Sports Media & Measurement Summit on November 12
New York, NY August 25, 2026 – As billions of dollars in sports rights and advertising investment move across an increasingly fragmented mix of broadcast, streaming and digital platforms, the systems used to measure sports audiences are no longer merely recording audiences—they have become critical market infrastructure directly impacting rights pricing, platform competition, and broader media investment. That’s according to a new paper released today by the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM).
To address these shifts, CIMM also announced that it will bring the industry together on November 12 for its second annual Sports Media & Measurement Summit, an in-person gathering for members at the Empire State Building in New York – in the building’s private basketball court – focused on the next generation of sports measurement.
The paper—“Keeping the Score: Industry Perspectives on Innovations in Sports Media Measurement”— also identifies nine persistent measurement challenges, from cross-platform audience fragmentation and unauthorized streaming to sponsorship valuation and outcome measurement, and examines the technologies and governance frameworks emerging to address them.
While live sports remain one of the most economically vital sectors in the video economy, the shift across broadcast, cable, streaming, and social environments has put immense pressure on traditional frameworks. Incomplete cross-platform measurement risks creating a “fragmentation discount”—where uncertainty surrounding total reach and audience duplication puts downward pressure on advertising pricing. Furthermore, a lack of confidence in current metrics creates a “measurement risk premium” that directly skews how high-stakes sports rights and long-term revenue streams are valued.
As a result, the current measurement challenges stem from three major structural tensions:
- Fragmented audiences: Cross-platform aggregation and deduplication; unauthorized streaming; out-of-home/co-viewing; local and regional viewing; multicultural representation.
- A broader range of engagement: Second screens and social amplification; sponsorship and new ad formats.
- Greater commercial accountability: Business outcomes; next-day measurement and decision-making.
“Sports has become the test bed and proving ground for the future of media measurement,” said Jon Watts, Managing Director, CIMM. “Because the financial stakes are so high and distribution is so fragmented, sports is driving the future of the entire ecosystem. The challenge is no longer simply counting viewers. Measurement increasingly determines how sports rights are valued, how advertising is priced, how platforms compete—and how billions in investment are allocated. As audiences move across broadcast, streaming and digital environments, the industry needs measurement that can keep pace, without sacrificing transparency, comparability or trust.”
The paper also outlines emerging solutions—such as hybrid panel-plus-big-data architectures, identity-enabled deduplication, and advanced sponsorship analytics—while considering the rise of AI and synthetic currencies blend observed viewer behavior with modeled estimates and raising important questions around transparency, auditing standards, and overall marketplace confidence.
Download the full paper here. CIMM members interested in attending the Sports Media & Measurement Summit on November 12 can register here.
About CIMM
The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is a non-partisan, pan-industry association of companies from across the media and advertising ecosystem, focused on cultivating and supporting improvements, innovations and best practices in measurement and currency development, the use and application of new metrics, and data collaboration. CIMM’s role is to convene stakeholders, illuminate emerging issues, and help the marketplace make informed decisions. CIMM embraces the entire media and advertising ecosystem and prioritizes effective collaboration to deliver meaningful change.
