Latest Reports

One of the biggest sea changes in both professional and collegiate athletics is the increased participation of women at all levels—as team owners, athletes, coaches, officials, and staff. Coverage of women’s basketball and women’s soccer, which eclipsed men’s soccer for a time, seems to dominate the sports news cycle, and viewership is expected to keep rising in 2025. The Professional Women’s Hockey League played its first game in January 2024, and the world’s first stadium built solely for a professional women’s sports team opened in March 2024. January 2025 saw the inauguration of a new 3x3 women’s professional basketball league, called Unrivaled, based in Miami. Revenue from women’s sports nearly doubled in 2024, to $1.88 billion globally, and is projected to reach $2.35 billion in 2025. More than half of that revenue came from North America, and investors are taking note.

The design and planning of medical and health sciences education facilities serve as both the precursor and the wave of the future, with facilities that are not only mixed-use, but truly hybridized and integrated. Formerly siloed programs for nursing, medical, surgical, and pharmaceutical training reap exponential benefits from shared technology, resources, and spaces that enable multiple institutions and stakeholders to offer more robust programs. The hybrid building model mirrors a coevolving approach to healthcare, where teamwork is central, and training with the latest technologies is key. By accommodating the functions of multiple disciplines, forward-thinking institutions can both leverage available space and focus on creating environments for the interpersonal collaboration that underpins the experience of 21st-century health practitioners, as well as that of their patients.

Three years after the end of the pandemic, office occupancies have still not gone back to where they were pre-COVID, and there is a wide range of opinions about whether they should. While some executives have ordered everyone back into the office, arguing that being physically present facilitates engagement and innovation, many workers argue that their working life and their home life are better when they can choose where they log on.

Advanced manufacturing (AM) experts say companies around the country that are currently trying to build up their AM capabilities are held back by three things: experience with cutting-edge AM equipment, experts who can show how to take full advantage of such equipment’s capabilities, and highly trained workers who have the skills to operate the equipment. Administrators at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla hope to fill all three gaps with the help of a new facility they call The Missouri Protoplex. 

Hospitals and healthcare systems are stepping up to manage difficult choices. COVID funds have expired, staff are difficult to find and expensive to hire, and reimbursements aren’t keeping up with inflation. For those who are planning new and renovated healthcare spaces, the focus is on becoming more labor- and cost-efficient, benefiting from technology-driven ways of delivering healthcare while not losing the personal, human touch.