Gary Lineker is still doing very well financially despite no longer being one of the highest-paid TV presenters in the country. When he stepped down from his role at the BBC, many wondered what the future held for the legendary broadcaster. The answer, it seems, is a surprising pivot that sees him crossing traditional battle lines.
Shock Move to ITV
In a move that has raised plenty of eyebrows, the 65-year-old is set to make a shock appearance as a pundit on ITV for their coverage of the 2026 World Cup clash between Germany and Ivory Coast. The switch is particularly striking given Lineker's 26-year association with the BBC, where he was the definitive face of Match of the Day and a long-time staple of their international tournament coverage. Taking up a punditry slot on ITV - the BBC's direct broadcasting rival - is a bold statement, especially after walking away from an enormous BBC contract in May of last year.
Net Worth and Earnings
Lineker had consistently been the BBC's highest-earning on-air talent, commanding a staggering salary of more than £1.35 million annually before his controversial departure. However, anyone thinking Lineker might be feeling the financial sting of leaving his lucrative BBC safety net behind would be sorely mistaken. Despite no longer working regularly in TV, the former England striker's bank balance remains incredibly healthy. Today, Lineker's net worth is widely estimated to stand at around £30 million.
His fortune was built through a combination of his playing career, his decades at the very top of British sports broadcasting and lucrative commercial endorsements. But recently, it's his booming podcast empire that's been padding his bank balance.
Goalhanger Podcasts Success
Much of Lineker's wealth accumulation can be credited to Goalhanger Podcasts, the media production firm he co-founded with Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport in 2018. The company has experienced explosive growth, fuelled by the massive cultural success of their The Rest Is... podcast series, including shows like The Rest is History, The Rest is Entertainment, The Rest is Politics, and The Rest is Football, the latter of which Lineker hosts. Lineker retains at least a 25 per cent stake in the business, which generated nearly £38 million in revenue last year and recently surpassed 250,000 paid subscribers.
Netflix World Cup Deal
The 2026 World Cup has also been something of a financial goldmine for Lineker. He and his The Rest is Football co-hosts, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, have temporarily set up shop in a luxurious New York City apartment overlooking Times Square. There, they are recording a 40-episode run of their podcast for streaming giant Netflix. The platform reportedly paid an eye-watering £14 million for the exclusive rights to host the daily show, delivering another massive payday to Lineker's accounts.
ITV Guest Appearance
While he wasn't officially named on ITV's initial World Cup punditry team - which features the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright - his guest appearance will see him briefly step away from his Netflix hub to shake things up on live TV. ITV have already been praised for staging their coverage from a lavish set in Brooklyn, beating the BBC - who opted to broadcast from their studios in Salford - in the early viewing ratings.
Criticism of BBC
Despite his lengthy tenure at the BBC, Lineker clearly has no qualms about turning out for their direct rivals. In fact, the presenter has taken several pointed swipes at his former employers since his acrimonious exit in 2025, which followed several instances of Lineker stirring controversy via social media. In spite of strict BBC guidelines requiring high-profile presenters to respect the corporation's impartiality rules, Lineker regularly tested those boundaries by frequently airing his outspoken personal political views on social media. While his commentary on domestic UK policy had already caused significant internal friction, his posts regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict sparked a massive public uproar.
The situation reached a breaking point when he reposted an online explainer video about Zionism that featured a rat - a deeply offensive, historical antisemitic trope. Lineker claimed he hadn't noticed the imagery and subsequently apologised. Not long after he opted to leave the BBC entirely, having originally planned to present the current season's FA Cup and World Cup programmes for the broadcaster.
Since leaving, Lineker hasn't held back about his newfound freedom away from the broadcaster's strict impartiality constraints, admitting he is "not treading on so many eggshells these days" and is finally "allowed an opinion on things." He even took a dig at the BBC's scaled-back World Cup coverage, mocking their decision to broadcast remotely from Salford rather than flying out to North America. Commenting on why he wouldn't miss his old job during the tournament, Lineker quipped that staying with the broadcaster would have simply seen him confined to a cramped "green box" virtual studio.
