Goalhanger, the independent British production company behind The Rest Is Football, has converted a 40-day World Cup experiment into a two-year deal with Netflix, in a move that offers a masterclass for any UK business looking to punch above its weight with a global partner.
The show, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, will return to Netflix for the 2026/27 Premier League season after a daily run filmed in New York during the 2026 FIFA World Cup made it one of the streamer’s hits of the summer.
The numbers explain why Netflix came back for more. The series appeared in Netflix’s Daily Top 10 TV chart every day of its 40-day run, peaking at No. 1 in the UK. The podcast itself, one of the world’s biggest sports shows, draws over 7 million monthly streams.
The extended deal takes the partnership through to the next Euros, held across the UK and Ireland in 2028. New episodes air on Netflix from August 2026, every Monday and Friday, with the three hosts appearing throughout the full 40 weeks of the Premier League and Champions League season.
A trial run, converted
For SME owners, the structure of the deal is as instructive as its scale. Goalhanger, which also produces The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics, used the World Cup as a proving ground, demonstrated demand with daily chart data, then negotiated a longer contract from a position of strength. Crucially, the company remains the producer, keeping control of the brand it built.
It is the same playbook behind Goalhanger’s new venture arm backing creator-led media businesses: own the intellectual property, own the audience relationship, and let the platforms compete for your content rather than the other way round.
Tony Pastor, Co-Founder of Goalhanger, said: “We launched The Rest Is Football after the last World Cup, and it’s incredible to see how far the show has come in such a short space of time. We began from such a strong position because Gary, Alan and Micah are genuinely close friends who talk about football together constantly. The aim was to capture that warmth, wit and energy, and make listeners feel part of the conversation.
“Netflix allowed us to preserve everything that makes the show special: sometimes serious, frequently hilarious, but always genuine and warm. We’re delighted that Netflix has enjoyed working with the show this summer and has chosen to extend the partnership for a further two years.”
Keeping the core business running
Notably, the podcast is not being sacrificed for the streaming deal. Goalhanger is running both in parallel, protecting the audience that made the show valuable in the first place, a discipline familiar to any founder who has diversified without abandoning their core revenue line. The show has form here, with record-breaking releases such as the Marcus Rashford interview drawing 1.4 million streams in 48 hours.
Gary Lineker said: “We had a brilliant time making the show during the World Cup, and the response was incredible, so it’s great to be back on Netflix every week throughout the Premier League season. The Rest Is Football podcast will continue across the week too, while the Netflix show gives us another chance to get stuck into the biggest stories. Expect plenty of opinions, plenty of laughs and, with Alan and Micah involved, probably a few arguments as well.”
The deal lands as linear television’s biggest names continue their flight to streaming and YouTube, with Ofcom’s Media Nations research charting the steady migration of UK viewing away from broadcast schedules. Netflix carried the show globally during the World Cup, included in all plans.
For Britain’s independent producers, the message is clear: build something audiences genuinely want, prove it with data, and even the world’s biggest platforms will come to you.
