Global sport’s top-line metrics, notably global sponsorship and media rights spend, continued to point in the right direction in 2016 but it was also a year of rapid change across the industry.

Two significant and game-shifting changes are well underway: China has finally emerged as a major global force, particularly in football where a string of team and agencies have been acquired. And over-the-top (OTT) and direct-to-consumer services have really started to take hold.

Nielsen monitors all of these trends and more on an ongoing basis. The sheer volume of content being produced by sport and across the wider entertainment space, the changing consumption habits of fans and the emergence of new markets are the backdrop to our new Year in Sports report.

This end-of-year review provides a global snapshot of a selection of the world’s leading sports in 2016: analysis of the major commercial events, trends and talking points from UEFA Euro 2016 to the Ryder Cup, Rio 2016 to the Pakistan Super League.

The report includes sections on football, rugby union, golf, tennis, motorsport, cycling, cricket, mixed martial arts, winter sports and basketball, plus offers a preview of the ten trends Nielsen expects to have the biggest impact on sports in 2017 and beyond.