Before social media, NFL schedule releases lacked the hype and spectacle they carry today. But in 2026, teams have taken their announcements to extravagant levels with parodies of TV and movies and pop culture references. As weird and unusual as some of the social media posts might be, they have contributed to the popularity of the NFL, attracting an entirely new audience.

The masterminds behind these and other sports social media campaigns gather every year at the Gondola Sports Summit in Denver, Colorado. Held this year at the Denver Art Museum, today, May 18, and running through May 20, 600+ attendees representing social media professionals from the world of sports, which includes producers, designers, photographers, editors, and marketing leaders, are expected to attend.

Founder of the Gondola Sports Summit, Jared Kleinstein, is excited for this edition of the Summit to be held at the Denver Art Museum, as it will provide more space for specialized panels compared to its previous home at the Infinity Park Event Center in Glendale, Colorado.

“We wanted to give people a chance to see more specialized presentations and panels,” said Kleinstein. “So something that was primarily for photographers or something that’s more for designers, that maybe not the whole room would want to see, but really give ample theater space for that. So the Art Museum was this perfect opportunity where the Sturm Hall is this amazing big space for most of the people.”

L.E.K. Consulting LLC’s Annual Sports Survey from 2025 reports that younger sports fans ages 18-29, allocate just 25% of their time to live sports content compared to 60% for fans over 60, with the younger generation seeking highlights from social media. With this trend, representatives from Meta, Snapchat, NFL, TikTok, and the Premier Lacrosse League will be hosting panels about how leagues and teams are adapting to the continuing evolving nature of social media and continue to create engaging content.

Kleinstein says social media has crossed over to being another form of media that the general public consumes on a regular basis.

“I think that diversification is definitely happening there,” said Kleinstein. But social isn’t really social anymore. It’s just this algorithm that’s giving us a variety of our media content. It’s media at this point, much more than it’s just social. So I think that the focus this year is a lot more on the production, the creative, and how to get it done.”

Some leagues have long been known for tightly controlling how their content appears on social media, but Kleinstein believes they’re starting to recognize the power of digital platforms to grow their audience and expand the reach of their league.

“I think there are some really unique things coming in the pipeline,” said Kleinstein. Like even at the NFL, there’s new rules this year around the teams being able to publish broadcast content. A lot of the restrictions in the past were related to different style of broadcast agreements and distribution agreements.”

Gondola Sports Summit will feature panels from photographers, content creators, and social media managers from various cross-sections of sports. Kleinstein believes what separates Gondola from other conferences is the fact that key speakers interact with the attendees through the event.

“I think that the combination of seeing somebody on stage who you admire and then getting a chance to connect with them is different from almost any other conference, right?” said Kleinstein. “Like if you go to see a conference at South By (South by Southwest) with John Cena, he’s probably ducking out right after. Versus the people that speak on stage at Summit, normally connect and stay as a part of the event with everybody.”

Tickets are still available via the Gondola website.