Gary Lineker strikes deal with DAZN after BBC exit
Gary Lineker has struck a deal that will see him present football highlights days after losing his job at the BBC for sharing an 'anti-Semitic' rat emoji.
Lineker's lucrative podcast, The Rest is Football, has announced it will show match footage from this summer's inaugural 32-team Club World Cup in a tie-up with global broadcast rights holders DAZN.
The deal was confirmed barely a week after Lineker left the BBC a year early following what was his final Match of the Day.
The 64-year-old, who 'apologised reservedly' last month for sharing a post on Instagram he said he had not known had contained 'offensive references', had previously been due to continue presenting the corporation's live coverage of the FA Cup and next summer's World Cup.
Tony Pastor, the co-founder of Lineker's Goalhanger podcast empire, said: 'The Rest Is Football isn't just being listened to – it's being watched, shared, and talked about across Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, X, and Instagram. Partnering with DAZN to bring official match clips into the mix is the natural next step – adding energy, context, and taking the conversation to the next level. With over six million episode views and listens each month, and huge engagement across social, it's already the UK's most popular sports podcast. As the way fans experience football evolves, The Rest Is Football is right at the heart of it.'
Pete Oliver, CEO of Growth Markets at DAZN, added: 'The Rest Is Football is essential viewing and listening for fans who want insight, entertainment, and personality – and this partnership is a brilliant way to bring the Fifa Club World Cup even closer to that audience. It's about connecting global football with the voices fans trust and love, and showing the tournament in a fresh, exciting, and authentically British way. As the global broadcast partner of the Fifa Club World Cup and the only place where fans in the UK can watch every game for free, there was no better partner than Goalhanger.'
As revealed by Telegraph Sport in December, DAZN bought the global rights to the new 32-team Club World Cup for $1 billion (£787 million), rescuing the tournament from a potential television blackout.
It subsequently announced an equivalent investment in the company by Saudi Arabia's Surj Sports.
DAZN will stream all 63 Club World Cup matches and has also sublicensed 23 of them – 15 group games, four last-16 ties, two quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final – to Channel 5 in the UK.
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