Gary Lineker and Gary Neville built two big media companies.
Introduction
Gary Lineker and Gary Neville played football for England. They never played together. Now they are important in digital media. Each man has a company. Lineker started Goalhanger in 2014. Neville started The Overlap in 2021. Many people watch their shows. They get a lot of money from investors. People ask: Do these companies change old TV sports?
Main Body
The Overlap has a show called Stick to Football. Many people watch it. In 2025, people watched it 2.2 billion times. The Overlap bought some YouTube channels. Mark Goldbridge made those channels. He uses bad words in his videos. His channels have 3.7 million subscribers. A big part of The Overlap was sold to Global. Global is a radio company in Europe. The Overlap now makes content about cricket and rugby. It also has rights to show German football games. Goalhanger makes podcasts. It has 75 million downloads every month. It has 250,000 paying members. The company made more than 3 million pounds profit in 2024. Goalhanger has a deal with Netflix. During the 2025 World Cup, a show will come from New York every day. Goalhanger also works with DAZN for the Club World Cup. It has a deal with Spain''s La Liga for video clips. An investment company gave Goalhanger money to grow in the US. Goalhanger''s podcasts are very popular. They are in the top 40 on Spotify. On Apple, they are the top four. On YouTube, The Overlap has 1.66 million subscribers. That is three times more than Goalhanger''s main show. Lineker and Neville say they are not rivals. One company makes podcasts. The other makes videos. They have different business models. Some people say the companies are small but important. They do not have live sports, but they can grow fast. A former BBC boss says TV companies must be fair. Athlete podcasts can say what they want. Lineker wrote something about a political issue. Then he left his job at the BBC. Neville still works for Sky. Goldbridge says he will keep his style. Some people think Neville has a problem. He works for Sky. He also gives money to Goldbridge. Goldbridge says bad things about Manchester United. Neville used to play for Manchester United. The Overlap says the two parts are separate. Other footballers also start their own media companies. Rio Ferdinand left TNT Sport to start his own. People say Lineker and Neville helped teach brands and audiences about new media. Goalhanger hopes to show that long, smart content can work.
Conclusion
Lineker and Neville built big media companies. Many people watch their shows. They get a lot of money. But they are still small compared to old TV companies. They change how people watch sports. We do not know if they will last a long time.