Benefits built for yesterday's workforce are failing today's sports, media & entertainment workers

New Economist Enterprise research, supported by Nuveen, exposes a widening gap between realities for workers in the sports, media and entertainment industry and the benefits systems meant to support them.

US businesses have increased freelance hiring by 260% in recent years, even as media and entertainment layoffs climbed 18% in 2025 alone. Yet the benefits meant to support this workforce haven't kept pace.

New research from the Benefits 2.0 survey, released today by Economist Enterprise and supported by Nuveen, draws on responses from 403 US workers across the sports, media, and entertainment sector, as a subsegment of a large survey of 2,063 American employees. The findings reveal a sharp disconnect between an industry increasingly built on flexible work and the benefits available to its people.

The gap is stark: 57% of workers say their benefits are still designed for stable, permanent employment, and only 36% say their benefits work across all employment types.

Retirement preparedness tells a similarly concerning story. Just 26% of sector workers actively review and adjust their retirement plans, compared to 38% in other industries. Even among workers who consider themselves financially informed, 74% remain largely passive about their savings. And 24% flag Social Security eligibility as a top two reason to work past their desired retirement age, nearly 10 percentage points above average in other industries.

For plan sponsors and HR leaders, the data points to both a retention risk and an untapped talent strategy opportunity.

"Workers in sports, media, and entertainment are navigating a fundamentally different employment landscape, yet the benefits designed to support them were built for a different era. The talent pipeline is telling us exactly what it needs — retirement support that drives proactive engagement rather than waiting for a financial shock to spur action." — Brendan McCarthy, Head of Nuveen Retirement Investing

The full findings, including data highlights and editorial analysis, are available at Nuveen.com/Benefits.

About Nuveen

Nuveen, a TIAA company, is a global investment leader, managing $1.4T in public and private assets for clients around the world, as of December 31, 2025. With broad expertise across income and alternatives, we invest in the growth of businesses, real estate, infrastructure, and natural capital, providing clients with the reliability, access, and foresight unique to our 125+ year heritage. Our prevailing perspective on the future drives our ambition to innovate and adapt our business to the changing needs of investors — all to pursue lasting performance for our clients, our communities, and our global economy.
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