When Gary Lineker stepped away from his £1.3 million BBC role last year, some saw it as a risky move. Yet, every development since has vindicated the former England striker's decision, showcasing his evolution into a remarkably shrewd media mogul. His company, Goalhanger, is now poised for world domination, with a major Netflix deal and ambitious US expansion plans.
The Goalhanger Podcast Empire: From History to World Cup Football
Founded in 2019 by Lineker and his partners, Goalhanger began as an offshoot of Goalhanger Films. Its first breakthrough was the wildly successful podcast The Rest Is History, hosted by historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. This was an unlikely but impactful move for a sports-focused outfit.
The brand went stratospheric with the launch of The Rest Is Politics in May 2022. Featuring former Tony Blair press secretary Alastair Campbell and ex-Tory minister Rory Stewart, the show tapped into a centrist audience, quickly amassing around 700,000 listeners and selling out venues like the Royal Albert Hall. It spawned spin-offs including The Rest Is Politics US with Anthony Scaramucci and Katty Kay.
Now, the focus has turned to sport with Lineker's own project. The Rest Is Football, co-hosted by Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, is taking a daily show to New York for next summer's World Cup. Crucially, this isn't just a podcast; it's a hybrid video podcast-cum-TV show commissioned by Netflix, representing a multi-million pound deal.
Platform Agnostic: Beyond Podcasts to a Global Media Business
Goalhanger has undergone a significant rebrand, dropping 'Podcasts' to become simply 'Goalhanger'. Managing director Jack Davenport describes the company as "platform agnostic", creating shows for both audio and video. This evolution is clear in their latest launch, The Rest Is Science with Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens, marketed as "video first" and achieving 1.8 million full episode views in its first week.
The company's ambitions are firmly international. "My ambition is to make a really significant media business worldwide," Davenport stated. The US market is the primary target, though capturing it is a recognised challenge. The Netflix World Cup show is a key strategic move, leveraging Lineker's profile and Netflix's global reach to cement Goalhanger's presence stateside.
Can Centrist "Dadcasting" Conquer America?
Goalhanger's success in the UK is built on a formula of accessible, centrist content—sometimes sniffily labelled "dadcasting". The question is whether this distinctly British sensibility can compete in the polarised US media landscape, dominated by ideological blocs like The Joe Rogan Experience and Crooked Media.
The company is betting it can. With a lean team that grew from 15 to 42 in a year, and having secured partnerships with giants like Netflix and Spotify, Goalhanger is operating with startup energy at a formidable scale. Lineker remains central to its expansion, using his connections to open doors, often via a simple Instagram DM.
As Lineker's final Match of the Day episode aired in May 2025, his future was already being rewritten. The Netflix deal could be the beginning of a fruitful partnership as the streamer expands into podcasts. For Goalhanger, the goal is clear: to evolve from a hit podcast factory into a global media player. Whether they remain a content partner for platforms like Netflix or ultimately decide to compete with them directly, one thing is certain—Gary Lineker's next move is far from a simple tap-in.
