Goalhanger, the London podcast and media company co-founded by former England soccer player Gary Lineker, is bringing its advertising sales operation fully in-house starting January 2027.

The shift changes how brands buy into Goalhanger’s shows, which include “The Rest Is Politics,” “The Rest Is Football” and “WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk.” Rather than purchasing podcast advertising as a standalone line item, brands will now be able to build partnerships spanning audio, video, social, newsletters, live events, branded editorial and bespoke content directly with Goalhanger’s own commercial team.

“Goalhanger has reached the scale where having full in-house ownership of our advertising sales operation is the natural next step,” said Josh Akers, Director of Commercial Operations at Goalhanger. “We’re approaching a billion full-episode views and streams a year, and the commercial opportunity around the network has grown significantly alongside it. We’ve been building out our in-house commercial capabilities across partnerships, delivery and creative production over the recent years to give us greater ownership of our revenue, building closer relationships with our media agency and client partners.”

The company’s network generated more than 750 million full-episode views and streams in 2025 and is on track to exceed one billion in 2026. Goalhanger topped the 2026 Sunday Times 100 ranking of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies, reporting £37.9 million in 2025 sales and average annual revenue growth of 321% over three years, and it has also been ranked No. 1 in Media & Telecoms in the Financial Times’ UK’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2027 ranking.

Goalhanger, co-founded by Lineker alongside former ITV sport controller Tony Pastor and audio producer Jack Davenport, secured a minority-stake investment from U.S. media firm The Chernin Group earlier this year and has since expanded well beyond audio, including a daily Netflix companion show for “The Rest Is Football” during the 2026 World Cup and an inaugural live event series, “The Rest Is Fest,” which sold 26,000 tickets across 22 shows at London’s Southbank Centre in September. Former WME executive Tom Miceli has also joined the company as Head of IP Development.

Existing advertiser relationships span Fuse Energy’s sponsorship of “The Rest Is Politics,” Guinness’s long-term backing of “The Rest Is Football,” and a multi-show NBCUniversal campaign tied to Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” that paired actor Tom Holland with “The Rest Is History” co-host Tom Holland (historian). Goalhanger cited a 2025 survey of more than 8,700 listeners that found 68% take action after hearing an ad on its shows.

“Brands come to us not just to access our audience, but because of the way we work with our hosts,” said Charlotte Robbins, Head of Partnerships at Goalhanger. “We’re very always-on and have a real startup mentality, so commercial, production and talent aren’t these separate silos. We all sit around the table and work out what’s actually going to work for the brand and, just as importantly, for our audience.”

Goalhanger said the change affects advertising representation only; its shows will continue to be distributed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and YouTube. The company plans to brief media agency and client partners on its 2027 commercial proposition throughout October, including a planned Goalhanger Upfronts event for media buyers and clients.

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