At Joe Hand Promotions, we spend every day talking to bar and restaurant owners across the country. We see what’s working, what’s changing, and where opportunities are being missed. Heading into 2026, a few key themes continue to rise to the top, and they all center around creating reasons for customers to choose your location over staying home.
UFC Numbered Events Are Here To Stay
With UFC now aligned with Paramount, there’s been some confusion in the market. Many operators assume that Pay-Per-View events have gone away, but that’s not the case. UFC Pay-Per-Views, which will now be known as “Numbered Events,” are still very much part of the commercial landscape. What has changed is the way in which we are selling this content, which gives establishment owners more year-round UFC content through our new UFC subscription. This new subscription gives operators 10x more content, including UFC Numbered Events, Fight Nights, Prelims and Early Prelims, Zuffa Boxing and Power Slap. For all details on our newest UFC offering, check out our website HERE or contact us at 1-800-557-4263.
Streaming Needs Continue To Evolve
Streaming continues to change how fans watch sports, and how bar and restaurant owners show events. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen traditionally residential streaming platforms—like Netflix—enter the commercial space, adding new layers to how content is accessed and licensed. As a result, streaming has quickly become both a choice for bar owners as a delivery source for certain programming, and also as a generator of new content, making it more confusing than ever for operators to manage what they can show, how they access it, and whether they’re properly covered.
The Joe Hand Promotions app simplifies the process with one app and one login, eliminating the need to juggle multiple platforms and passwords. It gives operators instant access to Joe Hand Promotions content, such as ESPN+ for Business, WWE PLEs, AEW pay-per-views, UFC Numbered Events, and select boxing pay-per-views that may not have been available through their current TV provider. As more programming moves to streaming, having a single, reliable solution removes the guesswork, keeps your venue compliant, and makes it easier to show the events your customers want to watch.
Boxing Growth You Can Count On
Boxing momentum is undeniable heading into 2026. Based on our own event performance and venue demand, we delivered almost double the amount of boxing events year- over-year, and the appetite continues to grow. This year, we expect that number to climb even higher, driven in part by Zuffa Boxing producing monthly events through the new UFC subscription. What we’re seeing is a shift from boxing as an occasional draw to boxing as a reliable traffic driver. For bars and restaurants, that consistency creates new opportunities to plan promotions, build repeat attendance, and turn fight fans into regular customers.
Planning for 2026 Starts Now
As streaming expands, boxing events continue to surge, and UFC programming grows, the bars and restaurants that win in 2026 will be the ones that plan ahead and lean into these trends. Getting started is as simple as reviewing our already stacked 2026 events schedule and identifying key moments to build around throughout the year.
To help take planning one step further, all Joe Hand Promotions customers receive our Best Practices Guide, designed specifically for bars and restaurants to help elevate their live sports execution. The guide outlines proven strategies for marketing events, creating consistent fight-night traffic, and maximizing the return on every live event you show. From our 50+ years of experience, establishments that understand what content is available, how to access it legally, and how to promote it with intention consistently outperform those that don’t.
At Joe Hand Promotions, our focus remains the same: helping bar and restaurant owners turn live sports into real business results. As the industry evolves, we’ll continue to make it easier to stay informed and stay ahead of what’s next.
Want to talk about your 2026 live sports event strategy? Contact us at 1-800-557-4263