Gary Lineker’s podcast production company Goalhanger Productions has taken on outside investment for the first time since it was founded in 2014 to help its growth into new formats and outside the UK, especially the US.
Goalhanger, best known for its series of ‘The Rest Is…’ shows including The Rest Is Politics and The Rest is Football has teamed up with US-based media and sports investment firm The Chernin Group (TCG), which comes on board as a minority investor with a seat on its board.
Financial terms of the deal, which is understood to have been completed this week, have not been disclosed.
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Goalhanger said the investment, and TCG’s experience in the field, was intended to support its next phase of growth, in particular in the US, as it scales its shows into “global, multi-platform IP” including across TV, film, digital video, written formats and live experiences.
TCG’s previous media investments have included Substack, Barstool Sports, The Athletic, US podcast network Audiochuck and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
The firm was founded by Peter Chernin, formerly president and chief operating officer of News Corp and chairman and chief executive of Fox Group during the nineties and noughties.
The news comes two weeks after Goalhanger said it now has more than 250,000 paying subscribers, with the average person paying £60 per year, meaning it brings in around £15m per year from listeners.
Bloomberg previously reported that Goalhanger had total revenue of about $50m in 2025, which was up 80% year on year compared to the year before, and made it the biggest podcaster in the UK, and in the world outside of the US. It currently employs more than 80 people, and reported that in 2025 it generated more than 750m full-episode views and streams across its 14 shows.
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Goalhanger’s co-founders Tony Pastor, Jack Davenport and former Match of the Day host Lineker said in a statement: “Since we first met Peter and the TCG team more than a year ago, it has become increasingly clear that they share our vision for what Goalhanger can become, and are the perfect partner to help us realise that ambition.
“This allows us to accelerate our US expansion, develop new IP from our hit shows, and take our ideas into new formats, platforms and markets. With a record number of paying members, we’re building a next-generation media company rooted in trust, creativity and curiosity and this partnership marks an exciting new chapter in that journey.”
Goalhanger has already seen “strong growth” in listenership and Youtube viewers in the US over the past year, and announced a deal with Netflix in December for the streaming company to air The Rest Is Football daily during the World Cup this summer. The show also recently signed a deal securing worldwide rights to feature Premier League archive action from every season since its inauguration in 1992 through to May 2025, and another last year to broadcast action from last summer’s Club World Cup.
Goalhanger has also been on a recent recruitment drive, hiring former Sunday Times journalist Emily Kent Smith to the new role of editorial director to lead the expansion of its written content, former Uber executive Andy Hodgson as CFO and former Audio UK CEO Chloe Straw as director of operations.
