Former England football star Gary Lineker is poised for a dramatic increase to his already substantial fortune after securing his first major broadcasting deal since his high-profile departure from the BBC.
From MOTD to Streaming Giant
The ex-Match of the Day host, who left the corporation in May 2025, has signed a lucrative agreement with Netflix to host his popular podcast, The Rest Is Football, for the streaming platform. The deal will see Lineker, 65, front the show from next summer's World Cup in North America.
This move marks a significant new chapter for the presenter, whose exit from the BBC came after he shared and then deleted a pro-Palestine video that featured an 'antisemitic' rat emoji. The broadcaster had initially intended for Lineker to lead their World Cup coverage, but those plans were subsequently axed.
Financial Windfall and Career Moves
Lineker's net worth is already estimated at around £30 million, a figure significantly bolstered by his BBC earnings. The corporation's annual salary report revealed he earned between £1,300,000 and £1,354,999 in the 2023/2024 period, making him their top earner for seven consecutive years.
Before leaving the iconic football highlights programme, Lineker had actually agreed to take a substantial pay cut of approximately £350,000 to remain with Match of the Day. Since his departure, his podcast has been without a permanent home, currently available on YouTube and other services after moving from its original platform on BBC Sounds.
A source told the Daily Mail: "The Rest is Football is currently available to watch on YouTube but it has not been affiliated to any other network or broadcaster. This is all new for Netflix and it is being described as an exciting new thing amongst the bosses there."
The insider added: "This will mean that its profile will catapult again, as well as meaning that Gary will go to the World Cup after all, just in a very different capacity."
Future Projects and Personal Life
While it remains unclear whether his regular podcast co-hosts Alan Shearer and Micah Richards will join him in the Netflix venture, the deal represents just one of Lineker's new projects. Following his BBC departure, it was announced he will host a new ITV quiz show called The Box, which will feature celebrities transported to unknown locations.
Regarding his personal life, the former Leicester striker has been married twice. He shares his four children with his first wife, Michelle Cockayne, whom he married in 1986 before their divorce two decades later. In 2007, he began dating Danielle Bux, who was twenty years his junior. They married in Italy in 2009 but announced their separation in early 2016 after six years of marriage.
Lineker has described his relationship with Bux as unusual but functional, telling the Radio Times: "Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time. When she comes to London, she stays with me, and when I go to LA, I see her."
He also addressed the dynamic with her current husband, noting: "He's not got a jealous bone in his body. We get on really well. We go out for dinner when I'm in LA. It might be unusual and people might go, 'That's weird' but, frankly, I don't care."
While the exact financial terms of the Netflix agreement and his ITV show remain undisclosed, industry experts widely expect both ventures to substantially increase Lineker's considerable wealth, ensuring his status as one of British broadcasting's highest earners continues well beyond his BBC career.
