Sports

How we will be watching football in 2035

Published

1 month ago

November 25, 2025

I am a lot like my dad. We enjoy similar things, we are the same shape, and we both grew too tall for our hair.

We also consume football in much the same way, in that we both watch games on the biggest TVs we can fit on the wall, listening to commentary the mainstream broadcaster has provided for our subscription money.

My children, however, do it very differently.

Sure, there are games they will still watch with me from start to finish, but not many, and they are often looking at their phones as much as the TV. And while I still want to hear what Roy Keane and co have to say at half time, my kids have their earbuds in and are listening to influencers I consider to be bad influences.

Is that it, then, for football on TV as we’ve known it? Are all our favourite sports just “highlights-based” products now, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver described his own league earlier this year?

“Watching while second-screening already feels completely normal for Gen Z,” says former EE and BT Sport technology director Matt Stagg, referring to the demographic cohort born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, and who cannot remember the pre-internet age.

“But I get annoyed when I hear that youngsters don’t have the attention span to watch anything all the way through. If they are interested, they’ll watch.”

Do younger viewers care what Roy Keane has to say? (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Fair point.

Peter Hutton, who has worked for established broadcasters such as the BBC, Eurosport and Sky and disruptors Meta and the Saudi Pro League, puts it like this.

“There is no one way of speaking to your audience anymore — you need different editorial voices across different platforms,” he explains. “It’s about accepting that it’s not always about the live game. Clips might be the most important offering. But when you boil it down, it’s pretty simple: you’ve got to get people to care.”

The risk with pieces like this is that you end up writing something that makes you look as daft as 1985 film Back to the Future’s predictions for the technology we would have by 2015 — all flying taxis, hoverboards and self-tying shoelaces.

Here, however, are six predictions for 2035 that I am confident in.

More, more, more

Let us start with the safest forecast of all: we will be able to watch more sport and sport-related content, in more places and more ways.

Just last week, Paramount+ won the rights to show Champions League football in the UK for the first time, displacing TNT Sports. But it is not just the platforms that are mushrooming: the volume is, too.

Two Circles, the international sports and entertainment marketing firm, believes global sports consumption will triple between 2014 and 2034, going from 1.3 trillion hours to four trillion hours in nine years’ time. Last year, it says, three trillion hours of sports video was consumed worldwide, with 40 per cent of that on digital platforms.

In the last week, I have watched live football from BBC Sport, TikTok and TNT, NFL on DAZN, school rugby on YouTube, and major World Cup news play out on X. All on my phone. But this was only a tiny fraction of what I could have watched.

“The last 15 years have been characterised by an exponential growth of content supply that is outstripping demand,” says Two Circles co-founder Gareth Balch. “In 2024, 114,000 years’ worth of new media was created, up from 15,000 in 2008. This trend will continue past 200,000 years’ worth of new media in a decade, driven by AI.”

Much of this content is being created by athletes, clubs and leagues themselves, as opposed to media companies, and it is pumped out via their own apps, social media channels and websites. But we are all creators now, too.

Many fans are also now content creators (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

“We’re seeing a fundamental shift in fandom,” says Lewis Dean, TikTok’s European brand and reputation manager. “Fans are more active participants than they were in the past. They are creators, too, and they are always ready to engage.

“But it goes the other way, too. The whole ecosystem wants to connect with fans, wherever they are, and lots of them are on TikTok, which is great for us.”

Hutton, who was in charge of Meta’s sports partnerships between 2018 and 2023, believes we are going to get a lot more output from the stars of the show, and it will be their contributions that lead the post-match debate, not the likes of me or even the best pundits.

One of the companies Hutton works with now is Greenfly, a Santa Monica-based firm that uses AI to quickly scrape stills and videos of games and send them directly to athletes, or whoever runs their social media accounts, for them to post.

“When you’ve been to see a game, what is it that really resonates?” asks Hutton. “If a player has posted something about a game, it is much more powerful than if a broadcaster, club or league does.”

Balch sees the increase in the amount of content kicked out by clubs, leagues and stars as a reaction to the fierce battle for our attention.

“The greater choice provided by modern media means avid fans are likely to know and consume more, and casual fans are likely to do the opposite,” he says.

“Leagues, teams and athletes will need to double the amount of content they’re producing, and treble the genres they’re producing it in, to keep growing relevance.”

Hyper-personalisation

When actor Bill Murray filled in for the Chicago Cubs’ famous but ailing announcer Harry Caray for a game against the Montreal Expos in 1987, it was a hit. Despite being unashamedly biased to the Cubs and offering little in the way of insight, nobody cared, as it was funny and Caray would be back for the next game.

But what was once a one-off is already common.

When Amazon Prime Video started streaming Premier League games in 2019, one of the surprises it delivered was the option to turn off the commentary team and have “stadium atmosphere” instead. In 2021, children’s TV network Nickelodeon simulcast CBS’s coverage of the Chicago Bears-New Orleans Saints play-off game, but with added slime and SpongeBob SquarePants. There have been five more NFL games on Nickelodeon since then, with more planned.

Next month, ESPN2 and various Disney Channel options will simulcast a Monsters Inc.-themed version of ESPN’s Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers. You can decide if that is a sillier alternative than the iShowSpeed stream YouTube offered for its first NFL global exclusive, the season-opener in Sao Paulo between the Kansas City Chiefs and Chargers, or the Mark Goldbridge stream the Bundesliga is offering in the UK. The point is that we have options.

“The big trend is hyper-personalisation,” says Stagg, who now advises companies on their digital and fan engagement strategies. “I call it ‘skinning’ your content because it is similar to how gamers customise characters with skins they have bought or earned.

“A super fan might want a feed with loads of data, heat maps and xG. A more casual fan might want to watch along with their favourite YouTuber.”

Influencers such as IShowSpeed are increasingly significant (Wed Al Shehri/Getty Images for GEA)

Hutton agrees.

“When you watch a game on linear TV in the traditional way, you are watching what the broadcaster thinks you want,” he says. “But the viewers of tomorrow will want to choose. NFL Multiview (four games on one screen) is already massive in the U.S, but some viewers will want a feed with the latest betting odds, others will prefer fantasy football updates. It’s all storytelling.”

For TikTok’s Dean, the trend is clear.

“We are already seeing broadcasters and streamers provide quick and easy access to data — ball-tracking, player speeds, distance travelled,” he says. “We are going to see all of that information go from the big screen to the palm of your hand.”

For many, it will be more expensive

If there is one thing we can be absolutely sure of, it is that the good stuff will not be getting any cheaper.

But while the super fans will get hit hardest, more casual ones are likely to find they can get all they need without paying much at all, or certainly no more than they already do.

This year, we have already seen DAZN, flush with new Saudi investment, stream FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup for free, while the BBC has started publishing the same highlights packages it uses in Match of the Day on its website, hours before the flagship TV highlights show runs. The Saudi Pro League has been sharing long highlights packages of its games on YouTube for two seasons.

And if all that is not premium enough for you, DAZN teamed up with TikTok last week to stream Southend United versus Carlisle United, with 70,000 unique viewers enjoying that clash of the titans free of charge.

Now, none of this is strictly free as Brits have to pay for a TV licence — £174.50 a year — to access BBC content, while all these other “freebies” are supported by advertising.

Casimiro Miguel is Brazil’s version of the aforementioned Goldbridge and the YouTube channel he has built, CazeTV, is big enough to sell its own advertising. This revenue has enabled the channel to buy the Brazilian rights to the 2022 World Cup, 2024 Paris Olympics, and this year’s Club World Cup. It also had the non-exclusive rights in Brazil to the Chiefs-Chargers NFL season curtain-raiser.

Kansas City Chiefs’ trip to Los Angeles Chargers was streamed live by a Brazilian YouTuber (Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)

But while these are the ad-funded success stories sport is happy to publicise, Hutton raises another type of viewer that rights-holders are going to have to learn to accommodate.

“Pirate fans are valuable fans, too,” he says. “Sport will have to accept the reality of their existence and build in commercial content to monetise them.

“If you think about it, they are examples of fans who care, as they have sought out pirated content. So how do you bring them back into the fold so they contribute? Some leagues have started to put L-shaped advertising around live feeds, making the adverts part of the stolen content, so the pirates’ eyeballs are monetised.

“Another way to do it is to count them properly. Videocites is a firm that uses AI to track all usages of IP (intellectual property). It is helping the NBA count its total audience properly, which then helps it extract full value from its commercial partners.

“That data also helps the sports know which influencers and content creators are the best at telling their stories — they are the ones you want to work with.”

It will look like gaming

Electronic Arts, the company behind some of the most popular video games of the last 4o years, announced something during the NBC broadcast of the recent Detroit Lions-Philadelphia Eagles slugfest that would have gone over the heads of half of the TV audience.

It said this season’s edition of its EA Sports Madden NFL Cast, a collaboration with NBC’s streaming platform Peacock and data firm Genius Sports, is moving to primetime on Thanksgiving, when the Baltimore Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals. It also said the main coverage angle will come from a “hi-sky camera located behind the quarterback, the view most familiar to Madden gamers, rather than television’s traditional sideline camera location”.

This live stream will have its own commentary team, a combo of former players and broadcast veterans, while a former NFL quarterback will use graphic overlays to discuss and predict play options. So, while most of the family will be semi-comatose on the sofa, trying to digest half a turkey, the gamers will be watching and playing the game at the same time.

Some of them will have already tried this quite recently, as five MLS games from the current season have been simulcast through EA Sports FC’s “in-game TV portal”.

The fact that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — the ATM that has been subsidising boxing, football, golf, motorsport and tennis for the past few years — has just teamed up with private equity firm Silver Lake and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to buy EA for $55billion suggests they think there are a few people who like the idea of single platform to play video games and watch live sport.

Smart glasses are the future

Whether these people will be wearing helmets or not might depend on where they live.

It feels like people have been saying that virtual-reality headsets will be this year’s must-have Christmas present for 30 years. Santa has not delivered one yet.

“You’re probably in the wrong country,” says Hutton. “One in 10 households in the U.S. have a headset and they are very popular with gamers.”

Some of these headsets are made by Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and you can use them to watch NBA games from a virtual “courtside” seat.

Hutton admits this is still a niche market, but there is real growth in smart glasses and AR (augmented reality) specs, as “they give you added info without having to look at a second screen”.

Will VR headsets ever be a mainstream way of watching sport? (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)

Stagg, who spent a few years trying to persuade BT to really get behind 5G-enabled AR, VR and XR (extended reality) applications before it sold half of its sports streaming business to Warner Bros Discovery in 2022, is not sure about the headsets, but agrees on the smart glasses.

“Watching anything with a headset on just doesn’t feel like sports,” he says. “You want to be able to interact with other people. You can’t do that if you’re sitting there with an Oculus on. You’re cut off.

“That’s why the smart glasses are better — they keep that community vibe. They will eventually take off. They’ll be like AirPods. Everyone thought they were weird a few years ago, but nobody notices now. They augment your experience, not replace it.”

Meta, which has its fingers in several pies, has already teamed up with Oakley and Ray-Ban to make smart glasses that do not make you look like you work for NASA, and their prices are starting to come down. Other brands are available, of course.

… but the old ways won’t die completely

Two Circles’ view on these things is similar to mine.

“We don’t believe there will be any major platform shifts in the next decade that see mass adoption,” says Balch. “Even optimistic predictions on how VR and AR are being used in 10 years shouldn’t see a displacement of the continued growth of mobile and TV consumption.”

Like the other experts consulted here, Balch thinks the real innovation “will be in personalisation of broadcast feeds to more closely align with what audiences get on social media and better production of vertical video” (video shot in portrait mode, i.e., the way kids do it because that’s how TikTok, Insta Reels and YouTube Shorts want it).

But Balch also believes in something that cheers me up no end.

“We’re confident that live sports consumption will retain its value and position in the next decade,” he says. “Gen Z spends more time consuming sport than older groups, but much less watching TV or streaming. This will recalibrate, though. Data from the last decade and beyond has shown that younger audiences do grow into live consumption habits.”

Even Stagg, who predicts the spread of the IMAX-style venues, with table service, that have started to pop up in the U.S, thinks there is mileage in the old ways.

“Watching live sport is still a communal experience and, if you can’t be in the stadium, the next best place is with friends or family,” he says. “I suspect in 20 years’ time, when nobody is watching linear TV, the last thing we will all watch together on a flat screen, live, will be sport in the pub.”

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Men’s Basketball Closes Calendar Year at Colgate on Sunday in Non-League Finale

Published

3 hours ago

December 27, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men’s Basketball closes the 2025 calendar year at Colgate University on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, New York in the Crimson’s non-league finale.

What to Know

Harvard features four double-figure scorers on the year in a group that includes sophomore guard Robert Hinton (16.5 points per game), senior guard Chandler Piggé (13.7), sophomore guard Tey Barbour (11.5), and junior forward Thomas Batties II (10.3).

Among the Crimson’s four double-figure scorers, three of them averaged fewer than 7.0 points per game as first-years. Senior Chandler Piggé (1.9 points per game in 2022-23; 13.7 in 2025-26), junior Thomas Batties II (6.8 points per game in 2023-24; 10.3 in 2025-26), and sophomore Tey Barbour (4.8 points per game in 2024-25; 11.5 in 2025-26) have all increased their production over their careers.

In the Ivy League rankings, Harvard stands second in free throw percentage (78.5), second in steals per game (7.46), third in scoring defense (68.3), and fourth in field goal percentage (47.0). In the NCAA, the Crimson sits sixth in fewest fouls per game (13.5), ninth in free throw percentage (78.5), and 70^th in scoring defense (68.3).

Sophomore guard Robert Hinton has averaged 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on the year, while shooting 84.5 percent on free throws. Hinton ranks first in the Ivy League in field goals (79), second in steals per game (1.6), third in points (214), third in free throws (49), third in free throw percentage (84.5), sixth in points per game (16.5), and sixth in minutes per game (31.2). On the year, he has scored in double figures 10 times, netted 20 or more points four times, and eclipsed 30 points twice. He earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors on Dec. 8. Hinton – the 2024-25 Ivy League Rookie of the Year – averaged 14.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 2024-25.

Hinton dropped a career-high 35 points on 12-of-22 field goals and 11-of-12 free throws with eight rebounds at UMass (Dec. 3). Hinton poured in 34 points on 13-of-17 field goals, 4-of-5 3-pointers, and 4-of-4 free throws vs. BU (Nov. 22). He totaled 26 points, five rebounds, and five assists at Furman (Dec. 6) and scored 22 points vs. UNH (Nov. 9). Hinton notched 16 points and seven boards vs. Holy Cross (Dec. 20) and contributed 16 points at Army (Nov. 15). He netted 13 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 5.1 seconds left at Marist (Nov. 16) and added 12 points and nine rebounds at BC (Nov. 26).

Senior guard Chandler Piggé has posted 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on the year. He ranks fourth in the Ivy League in field goals (70), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.2), fourth in steals per game (1.5), fourth in minutes per game (32.4), fifth in assists per game (3.5), seventh in points (178), and ninth in points per game (13.7). He has scored in double figures in 10 games on the year. Piggé – an Honorable Mention All-Ivy selection and CSC Academic All-District honoree last season – notched 13.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game in 2024-25. He has steadily increased his production over his career, averaging 1.9 points per game in 2022-23, 8.1 points per game in 2023-24, and 13.1 points per game in 2024-25.

Piggé totaled 23 points and six assists, while shooting 8-of-11 from the floor vs. UNH (Nov. 9). He dropped 21 points with a career-high nine assists at Penn State (Nov. 19). Piggé posted 16 points and seven rebounds vs. Holy Cross (Dec. 20). He registered 14 points against both Army (Nov. 15) and Marist (Nov. 16), connecting on a game-tying 3-pointer with 35.8 seconds left against the Red Foxes. He netted 15 points against both Northeastern (Nov. 11) and Bryant (Nov. 29).

Sophomore guard Tey Barbour has registered 11.5 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game on the year, while shooting 41.0 percent from 3-point distance. Barbour ranks fourth in the Ivy League in 3-pointers made (32), fifth in 3-pointers per game (2.5), fifth in minutes per game (31.5), and 11^th in rebounds per game (5.5). He has scored in double figures in nine games on the year. Barbour notched 4.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game on the year in 2024-25.

Barbour scored a career-high 18 points with eight rebounds vs. Holy Cross (Dec. 20), hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers. He posted 15 points and nine rebounds at BC (Nov. 26) after scoring 15 points vs. BU (Nov. 22). He posted 14 points, six rebounds, and a career-high four made 3-pointers vs. UNH (Nov. 9) before netting 12 points on four 3-pointers vs. Northeastern (Nov. 11). He compiled 12 points and seven rebounds at Penn State (Nov. 19). Barbour netted 10 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer vs. Bryant (Nov. 29).

Junior forward Thomas Batties II has registered 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game on the year, while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from 3-point distance. He ranks fourth in the Ivy League in 3-point percentage (52.4) and sixth in blocks per game (1.0). He has scored in double figures eight times on the year. In 2024-25, Batties II averaged 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on the year after registering 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game on the 2023-24 season.

Batties II tallied a season-high 17 points, career-high five made 3-pointers, and a career-high six assists at Penn State (Nov. 19). He scored a game-high 17 points against both MIT (Nov. 7) and Army (Nov. 15). Batties II posted 14 points and a career-high six assists vs. BU (Nov. 22) and notched 13 points at BC (Nov. 26) and vs. UMass (Dec. 3). He totaled 12 points and nine rebounds vs. Bryant (Nov. 29).

Sophomore guard Austin Hunt has tallied 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game on the year, while shooting 55.1 percent from the field. He ranks sixth in the Ivy League in field goal percentage (55.1). Hunt scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-9 field goals and 3-of-4 3-pointers vs. Holy Cross (Dec. 20). He notched 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists vs. UNH (Nov. 9) and netted 10 points at Furman (Dec. 6). Hunt averaged 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 2024-25.

Sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath has notched 5.1 points, 3.0 assists, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game on the year, while shooting 51.1 percent from the field. Eisendrath ranks third in the Ivy League in steals per game (1.6) and 10^th in assists per game (3.0). He scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-7 field goals at Penn State (Nov. 19) and netted 10 points at Furman (Dec. 6). Eisendrath distributed a career-high nine assists vs. BU (Nov. 22).

Harvard and Colgate have met 24 times with the Crimson holding a slight lead in the all-time series, 13-11. The Crimson has won the last eight matchups, including a 78-67 home victory last season.

Next Up

Harvard hosts Dartmouth on Monday, Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at Lavietes Pavilion in its Ivy League opener.

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Iowa City Liberty grad Shelby Kimm stars as a Division II volleyball All-American

Published

3 hours ago

December 27, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NORTH Liberty, Iowa (KCRG) – A former Iowa high school volleyball star has earned All-American recognition at the college level.

Shelby Kimm, a three-time all-state selection at Iowa City Liberty, was named a Division II All-American this year for St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. The junior led her Husky team this season with nearly 3.4 kills per set.

The Huskies have made it to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament each of the past two years, which is tied for the best finish in program history.

After winning a state title at Liberty, Kimm wanted to experience college outside of Iowa.

“We had so many people on our team that were probably their best or one of the best on their high school or club team when you put a lot of those players together it can be a little challenging cause they’re not used to maybe not playing as much,” Kimm said. “You definitely have to work really hard and I think I learned that nothing is guaranteed you have to go into college and work your butt off and hopefully your coaches recognize that and that’s why I try to do.”

Kimm says she’s already excited to get back on the court for her senior season next year.

Three other Iowans are listed on the SCSU roster, including Kimm’s Liberty teammate Asta Hildebrand, Grundy Center alum Carlie Willis and Aplington-Parkersburg alum Kinsey Mohwinkle.

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Men’s Volleyball Picked Second In Preseason AVCA Poll

Published

5 hours ago

December 27, 2025

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team was picked No. 2 in the AVCA preseason poll, marking the eighth consecutive year it earned a top 3 preseason ranking.

The Rainbow Warriors earned seven first place votes and 473 total points, just eight points behind preseason favorite UCLA, who garnered 12 first place votes. Long Beach State was third with five first place votes and 460 points.

UH’s schedule features seven teams ranked in the preseason Top 10 and 11 teams in the Top 20.

Hawai’i finished last season with a No. 3 final AVCA ranking after advancing to the NCAA Championship semifinal round. The No. 3 ranking marked the eighth consecutive year with a Top 5 national finish. The Warriors completed the year with a 27-6 mark and captured their fourth Big West Championship title, defeating eventual national champion Long Beach State in the championship match.

Head coach Charlie Wade, who became the program’s all-time winningest coach last season, is entering his 17^th season at the helm with a career record of 319-131.

UH opens the 2026 season with a two-match series against NJIT, Friday, Jan. 2 and Sunday, Jan. 4.

#HawaiiMVB

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Gibbs-Lawhorn Named Raising Cane’s Outstanding Rebel Of The Week

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5 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men’s basketball junior Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has been named the Raising Cane’s Outstanding Rebel of the Week, the school announced Friday.

Gibbs-Lawhorn has earned the recognition for the first time this season, while it’s also the men’s basketball team’s second of the year.

The award goes to the student-athlete who turned in the best individual performance during the previous week of competition from Monday through Sunday as voted on by the UNLV Athletics Strategic Communications department.

A native of Lafayette, Indiana, Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Runnin’ Rebels to a Mountain West opening 84-72 win over Fresno State. He scored a career-high 28 points, while grabbing seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a blocked shot.

Additionally, Gibbs-Lawhorn shot 9 of 15 from the field, made all four of his free throw attempts and shot 60% on 3-pointers (6 of 10).

2025-26 Outstanding Rebel of the Week Award Winners
Sept. 3 – Aamaris Brown, Football
Sept. 11 – Jaida Harris, Volleyball
Sept. 16 – Alondra Alarcon, Volleyball
Sept. 23 – Marsel McDuffie, Football
Sept. 30 – Zi Yu Foong, Women’s Golf
Oct. 7 – Kayden McGee, Football
Oct. 14 – Anthony Colandrea, Football
Oct. 22 – Jaida Harris, Volleyball
Oct. 27 – Ilia Snitari, Men’s Tennis
Nov. 5 – Michelle Madrid, Women’s Soccer
Nov. 12 – Jai’Den Thomas, Football
Nov. 12 – Meadow Roland, Women’s Basketball
Nov. 18 – Issac Williamson, Men’s Basketball
Nov. 26 – Ilia Snitari, Men’s Tennis
Dec. 3 – Jai’Den Thomas, Football

Dec. 10 – Bryson Huey, Men’s Swim & Dive
Dec. 26 – Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Men’s Basketball

-UNLV-

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Out of indoor eligibility, Texas A&M’s Hellmuth transfers to LSU beach volleyball program

Published

6 hours ago

December 26, 2025

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Texas A&M outside hitter Emily Hellmuth is transferring to LSU to play with the Tiger beach volleyball program, LSU announced on social media Friday.

Hellmuth could not have returned to defend the national championship with A&M this season, as she is out of eligibility in the indoor game. In switching sports, she will gain a year of eligibility and will be able to play two spring seasons for the Tigers while earning a master’s degree.

Hellmuth finished third on the Aggies in kills (316) and kills per set (2.70) this season as a key piece of A&M’s balanced attack. In 2024, Hellmuth tallied a career-high 330 kills, with a 3 kill average per set. The Highland Park native transferred to A&M after spending her first two seasons at Pepperdine.

The Aggies will need to find a significant number of replacements on the attack, returning only outside hitter Kyndal Stowers in their top 6 attackers from the national championship season.

On Dec. 23, A&M added Marquette outside hitter Natalie Ring and Ohio State middle blocker Kaia Ring through the transfer portal, according to releases and social media posts by the program. Friday, A&M announced the addition of Boise State middle blocker Eliza Sharp.

Ring paced the Golden Eagles with 497 kills and a 4.6 kill per set average, while hitting. 274. Castle recorded 200 kills, with seven double-digit kill matches, and 91 blocks last season.

“We value speed at the middle blocker position and it’s rare to see someone with Kaia’s length who can move the way she does,” A&M head coach Jamie Morrison said in a statement. “Beyond the physical tools, she is an incredible human. I truly enjoyed every part of the recruiting process with Kaia and can’t wait to have her here in Aggieland.”

Sharp was the Mountain West Conference freshman of the year after ranking second on the Broncos’ in kills with 250, averaging 2.21 per set. She hit at a .323 clip and tallied 140 blocks.

“It’s hard to win conference awards as a middle blocker and Eliza comes to us as the reigning Freshman of the Year in her conference,” Morrison said in a statement. “She is an elite athlete as both a blocker and an attacker who will continue the lineage of great middle blockers at Texas A&M. From our first phone call, I knew she would be a great fit for our culture, not just as a player, but as a person who embodies the values of Texas A&M.”

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A&M Volleyball’s Lednicky signs professional contract with LOVB Houston | KWKT

Published

6 hours ago

December 26, 2025

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BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (FOX 44) – Texas A&M Volleyball’s Logan Lednicky has signed her first professional contract with League One Volleyball (LOVB) Houston, the organization announced Friday.

Texas A&M Athletics says Lednicky joins the Houston based LOVB team after spearheading the Aggies to the program’s first national title. The opposite hitter etched her name in Texas A&M history, as she broke the program rally-scoring record for career kills concluding her four years with 1,686.

The Sugar Land, Texas, native developed a well-rounded game throughout her four years but offensively is where she excelled. She recorded double-digit kills in 94 matches during her career, including 23 straight to conclude the 2025 campaign which led to a national crown.

Texas A&M Athletics says Lednicky showed her versatility during her time in Aggieland, racking up 379 blocks which ranks 11^th in program history and secured back-to-back 100-block seasons in her junior and senior campaigns. She also tacked on 808 digs which helped account for 28 career double-doubles.

Lednicky cemented herself as an all-time great for the program and received a pair of AVCA Second Team All-America honors, was a four-time All-SEC and All-Region selection, AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist, NCAA Tournament Team recipient, NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and five-time SEC weekly award winner.

Texas A&M Athletics says yhe pin hitter got her international career started this past summer, as she received her first senior-national team call up for the United States and was named to the Volleyball Nation’s League roster for the opening two weeks in Brazil and Serbia. She competed in seven of the eight matches over the two weeks, tallying 43 points on 38 kills and five blocks, while adding 26 digs.

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