Gary Lineker has admitted he used to compare BBC and ITV's viewing figures during his time as a presenter, revealing he took it to heart when competitors had better ratings. The former Match of the Day host spent over 20 years at the BBC, becoming the face of their World Cup and European Championship coverage.
Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Lineker said: 'It's like the BBC and ITV at the World Cup. I used to care about who got the biggest figures. The BBC always wins the head-to-head, but you could see who was getting the bigger audiences for the exclusive matches.' He added that at recent tournaments he realised this was 'absurd' and now focuses on producing a good show regardless of ratings.
Since leaving the BBC last year, Lineker has signed a £14million deal with Netflix for his podcast, The Rest is Football. The show will stream daily episodes during the 2026 World Cup from a studio overlooking New York's Times Square. 'It's great and it will help us grow, hopefully in America,' he said.
Lineker also addressed comparisons with rival podcast Stick to Football, featuring Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher. He described their show as 'a YouTube show' that 'does really well on YouTube' but insisted his podcast is 'so far ahead in terms of the football'.
