How Neville and Lineker Became Rival Podcast Moguls
Gary Lineker's final match in English football took place in May 1992, several months before Gary Neville made his debut for Manchester United. Although these two of England's most capped internationals never played together on the field, they have since become competitors in the media industry.
Lineker and Neville now stand as prominent figures in a rapidly evolving sports media landscape, each building extensive digital media empires through their respective platforms, Goalhanger and Overlap.
What factors have driven this development? Does it signal the future of sports media? And who currently holds the upper hand? explores these questions in detail.
How Both Garys Grew Media Empires
Gary Lineker scored 48 goals in 80 appearances for England during his playing career.
Recently, Neville's 'The Overlap' network acquired the YouTube channels of United influencer Mark Goldbridge, highlighting the significant influence Neville now commands in football media. Goldbridge, whose real name is Brent di Cesare, is a former policeman known for his viral, expletive-filled rants during live 'watchalongs' of Manchester United matches. His two YouTube channels have amassed 3.7 million rs.
"We are building what we believe will become one of the most exciting independent football communities in the world - one that gives fans direct, personality-led content,"said Neville, co-chair of The Overlap, at the time of the acquisition.
Neville co-founded the sports entertainment production company Buzz16 ten years ago and launched The Overlap YouTube platform in 2021. The platform features long-form discussion shows such as 'Stick to Football', interviews, and fan debates, sponsored by Skybet. It quickly became one of the UK's most popular football content channels, claiming 2.2 billion views across all platforms in 2025, with ambitions to become the "biggest non-live football platform in the world."
Buzz16 also produces content for broadcasters including the BBC's Women's Super League coverage and TNT's rugby union programming. The Overlap has expanded into cricket and rugby spin-offs and secured live Bundesliga rights. This year, a majority stake in Buzz16 was sold to Global, one of Europe's largest commercial radio companies.
Weeks after the Global deal, The Overlap acquired Goldbridge's channels to enhance its daily content offering.
Buzz16 generated £11.6 million in revenue last year, though this falls short of the £14 million reportedly earned by Goalhanger, the production company co-founded by former BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker in 2014, from a deal with Netflix.
Goalhanger's deal with Netflix includes daily broadcasts of Lineker's 'The Rest Is Football' podcast from a New York studio during the summer World Cup. The company boasts 250,000 paying members and claims over 75 million podcast downloads monthly, with profits exceeding £3 million in the second half of 2024.
Last year, Goalhanger partnered with DAZN to broadcast Club World Cup action and secured a three-year deal with Spain's La Liga for weekly clips. The company also attracted minority investment from a private equity firm as it seeks expansion in the US and new content formats.
Who Has the Advantage?
Like Neville's Overlap, Lineker's Goalhanger has developed spin-off shows, but Goalhanger's brand extends beyond sports.
At the time of writing, Goalhanger's podcasts dominate Spotify's top 40 charts with shows on politics (ranked 1st, 8th, and 11th), history (6th), entertainment (9th), football (13th), and science (38th). The Overlap's 'Stick to Football' ranks 17th. On Apple's charts, Goalhanger holds the top four podcast positions.
On YouTube, however, The Overlap leads with 1.66 million rs, three times the 550,000 rs of 'The Rest Is Football'. The Overlap will also produce shows from the US during the World Cup.
"I don't think we're rivals necessarily, but I've no problem if people want to think that,"said Scott Melvin, co-founder and operator of The Overlap alongside Neville.
"They've done unbelievably well. They're market leaders in the podcast space, whereas we're a 'video-first' business. They were 'eyes optional', and now pivoting into some video. We've always said we're 'ears optional'."
Goalhanger co-founder Tony Pastor agrees that while the companies share some similarities, they differ significantly.
"We've taken a broader approach in terms of genres,"he explained.
"Our biggest show in the UK is The Rest Is Politics, and our biggest show worldwide is The Rest Is History. We don't really compete with Buzz16, we have different business models. I'm a massive fan of what they do."
A Challenge for Traditional Media?
After retiring in 2011, Neville joined Sky Sports as a pundit.
What impact do Lineker and Neville's media ventures have on mainstream broadcasters?
"They are still niche, small businesses, admittedly with huge influence over fans and reach, but their turnover is very modest so they aren't taking on the big legacy media brands when it comes to hard business numbers,"said Jimmy Worrall, who recently launched The Football Boardroom podcast after establishing a media business with former England manager Gareth Southgate.
"That said, they are taking eyeballs, and tapping into the shifting patterns of fans, and the way they consume sports news.
Don't forget they don't have the real gold (premium live content).
They are all trying to diversify and because they are nimble and entrepreneurial, and now have access to capital, they can now buy growth as well as take risk on new shows, both have speed to market and they could conceivably grow to be some significant media businesses if they invest heavily and quickly.
They will need to constantly evolve, that is for sure."
Roger Mosey, a former BBC executive, also commented on the rise of athlete-driven content.
"It definitely makes life tricky for the established broadcaster,"he said.
"They are bound, overall, to be impartial - they can't be 'Manchester United TV' or 'the anti-VAR channel' or whatever.
And the mainstream broadcasters are still governed by regulation and their traditions, which means that they can't be as vigorous or sweary or impassioned as a podcast can."
During the 2024 Euros, Lineker faced scrutiny for expressing stronger opinions about England's performances on his podcast than during his BBC coverage of the tournament. His 30-year association with the BBC ended last year following controversy over a social media post about Zionism.
In contrast, Neville continues as Sky's leading pundit. Goldbridge has stated he will maintain his candid style despite being acquired by The Overlap.
However, questions arise about potential conflicts between Goldbridge's outspoken content and Neville's role at Sky or his relationship with Manchester United and their supporters.
"If I was Sky, I would be watching Stick to Football every week knowing there's no commercial upside but potential brand downside if the editorial tone is off brand because the talent is inextricably linked to Sky,"said Worrall.
"If I was Neville I would be watching Mark Goldbridge thinking the same, except he has the commercial upside as well.
It's one thing having a fan rant at the performance of the club, it's another to have one of the most decorated players in their history fund and facilitate that rant. That won't be an easy one to square off."
"We see it as being separate",Melvin insisted.
"There's no point investing in Mark and turning him into a traditional presenter. What we want to do is grow his channels with him."
Melvin also noted the importance of a daily content offering via Goldbridge's channels.
"When [former United manager] Ruben Amorim was sacked we didn't have a Stick To Football show scheduled for 10 days so we didn't talk about it until then,"he recalled.
"We can't do that. We have to be able to be agile."
Can Others Compete?
Lineker and Neville are part of a broader trend of football personalities launching their own media channels and businesses to engage directly with fans and maintain control over their content.
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who left his role with TNT Sport to pursue his own content production business, has noted that global digital platforms allow pundits to bypass traditional broadcast limitations such as program durations and territorial rights.
"I am sure others will follow although it's one thing building a media platform around a sports star's 'brand' (low risk and high return), while they are playing, and another building a real media business - which requires money, huge amounts of effort, people to manage, and significant risk,"said Worrall.
"Building a business takes an immense amount of effort and it's not for everyone. But there is no reason why players or former players can't do it if they have the passion and motivation to do so.
I don't think the industry has peaked by any stretch but I do think even the most successful podcasts will peak and then drop - they will have a lifecycle.
And to make a podcast work is much more complex than people think: committed talent, aligned business model, high production values, constant innovation, research, social activation, audience engagement, infrastructure and subject matter or an entertainment format that serves an audience and has some form of longevity, and talent-led shows ultimately become outdated."
Regarding smaller content creators and production companies competing with Goalhanger and The Overlap, Mike Carr, who runs Crowd Network, commented:
"It's not a 'winner takes all' market,"he said.
"It's still really early in terms of audience growth, especially on YouTube. There's still huge room to build - what Lineker and Neville have done is help to educate brands and audiences on the power of the space.
What we do is slightly different. Rather than seeing them as competition, they have helped to accelerate the market."
Pastor added:
"I hope Goalhanger proves that if you get your content offering right you can achieve the kind of scale that supports a successful modern media business.
We've created 80 jobs which is great, but we've also proven that millions of people still want to listen to and watch long form, intelligent, hopefully entertaining content. And that has to be good news for everyone."
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