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Should I ship a Management Sports game?
Sports + Management
Of 179 developers who shipped a Management Sports game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 242 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×503 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 242 games are announced against 136 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,073) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,830) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $25,490) |
| Top 5% | $316k (exactly $315,689) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 179 |
| Released games | 479 |
| Announced | 242 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 55% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 57% positive over 59,424 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 7 in 10 of the 63 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 242 games are announced against 136 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M 
NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M 
Football Manager 26 2025 · $39M 
Forza Motorsport 2023 · $26M 
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions 2020 · $9.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NBA 2K25 | older | $69.99 | 30,969 60% | 929k | $65M (exactly $65,025,609) | Visual Concepts |
| | NBA 2K26 | $69.99 | 25,651 66% | 770k | $54M (exactly $53,859,405) | Visual Concepts | |
| | Football Manager 26 | $59.99 | 21,490 37% | 645k | $39M (exactly $38,675,553) | Sports Interactive | |
| | Forza Motorsport | older | $69.99 | 12,148 51% | 364k | $26M (exactly $25,507,156) | Turn 10 |
| | Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions | older | $59.99 | 5,072 73% | 152k | $9.1M (exactly $9,128,078) | TAMSOFT CORPORATION |
 | Motorsport Manager | older | $19.99 | 11,499 91% | 345k | $6.9M (exactly $6,895,950) | Playsport Games |
 | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
 | Rival Stars Horse Racing: Desktop Edition | older | $29.99 | 5,032 91% | 151k | $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) | PikPok |
 | WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship | older | $49.99 | 2,657 73% | 80k | $4.0M (exactly $3,984,703) | KT Racing |
 | Punch Club | older | $9.99 | 12,098 81% | 363k | $3.6M (exactly $3,625,771) | Lazy Bear Games |
 | NBA 2K27 | $69.99 | 1,698 53% | 51k | $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) | Visual Concepts | |
 | Esports Manager 2026 | $19.99 | 3,860 73% | 116k | $2.3M (exactly $2,314,842) | Neurona Games | |
 | Teamfight Manager 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 2,251 60% | 68k | $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) | Team Samoyed |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 26 | $49.99 | 819 82% | 25k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | iRacing Arcade | $24.99 | 1,199 72% | 36k | $899k (exactly $898,890) | Original Fire Games, iRacing | |
 | Football Coach: College Dynasty | $19.99 | 1,485 95% | 45k | $891k (exactly $890,554) | SidelineSim Studios | |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 27 | $49.99 | 475 82% | 14k | $712k (exactly $712,358) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | Pro Cycling Manager 25 | $39.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $595k (exactly $595,051) | Cyanide Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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