For the first time since the BBC. ITV began sharing World Cup coverage in 1966 their local rivalry will not be the main broadcasting battleground this summer.
and TikTok broadcasting live action for the first time. Netflix streaming a daily TV show, Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football, with the previously homespun podcast relocating to Times Square for almost six weeks.
The former Match of the Day presenter will be joined by The Rest is Football regulars Alan Shearer. Micah Richards in the first programme, available from 6am in the UK on Wednesday, but big-name guests including Harry Maguire, Frank Lampard and Patrick Vieira have been booked for later in the tournament.
Richards has joked about the World Cup’s looming “podcast wars” because his Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville’s Stick to Football will also be based in New York for the tournament, but Netflix’s involvement in The Rest is Football is a gamechanger that should take that podcast to another level,. a much larger audience.
The US-based streaming company has paid £14m for 40 daily episodes, which will feature interviews. reporting from venues as well as the standard football chat, over fear of losing much of its usual audience to the World Cup.
and limited to 12 programmes given their commitments to ITV.
The bigger picture in the podcast wars is Netflix’s growing interest in live sport. it has a good relationship with Fifa, having bought exclusive rights for the next two Women’s World Cups.
“Netflix didn’t have a way to capture a World Cup audience because they don’t have the live games,” says Tony Pastor, co-founder of Goalhanger, the production company behind The Rest is Football. the rest of the successful podcast stable that generates more than 70m monthly downloads across its 14 shows.
“They want to be part of the World Cup conversation. have a daily offering, to give their audience a reason to turn on each day and not park the channel for six weeks.”
Lineker. co will be under pressure to deliver big numbers for Netflix given the size of the investment, but the 65-year-old is well equipped to cope, having presented live coverage for the BBC at six World Cups and played in two.
The rest of the industry will be watching closely, because any move from Netflix to add more football content to a sports offering that has focused on one-off events such as Major League Baseball’s opening night, NFL’s Christmas Day game or entertainment crossover such as WWE. celebrity boxing will have profound implications.
“The Rest is Football on Netflix is fascinating,” says Alex Kay-Jelski, the BBC’s director of sport. “If a show like that can do well on a big streaming platform then it will be a significant development.”
The BBC’s tournament plans are more modest, its coverage based in Salford until the final week of the tournament, with the Match of the Day hosts Kelly Cates, Gaby Logan. Mark Chapman sharing presenting duties.
With a redundancy programme under way that will result in about 2,000 BBC staff losing their jobs. financial constraints were a factor, as were environmental considerations.
The BBC’s focus will be on sustainability. investing in its products for the long term, with a new studio opening this week and a range of new digital services on offer as it seeks to engage a younger audience.
Pundits such as Wayne Rooney should ensure its TV coverage packs a punch,. Thomas Frank’s first media appearances since being sacked by Tottenham will generate headlines.
shorts, news and analysis, or interactive World Cup games.
“If we had £200m to spend then maybe we would have done things differently,. we’re very happy with where we’ve ended up. We cannot just focus on a six-week tournament, we have to invest for the long term. So we’ve built a new studio which will be used by Match of the Day. providing a real legacy from the World Cup.
“I’m still not sure where we would have gone even if we had decided to build a studio over there. You could make arguments for Miami, LA, New York or Mexico City. It’s such a sprawling tournament that I’m comfortable with being based in the UK, at least initially.”
ITV is taking a more old-school approach with its team, led by Laura Woods. Mark Pougatch, based in New York. Its director of sport. Niall Sloane, will be attending his 11th World Cup 40 years after his first, when his duties included operating a camera behind the goal at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City when Diego Maradona punched the ball beyond Peter Shilton. “That was a frantic 20 minutes,” he says with a smile.
Sloane says there is too much football on television, with the expansion to 48 teams. increase from 64 to 104 matches not a development he welcomes.
ITV, which will show 51 matches to the BBC’s 54 with both sharing the final, should get off to a strong start because it has Thursday’s opening game – Mexico v South Africa –. England’s first match, against Croatia, next Wednesday, the BBC appearing to have gambled that Thomas Tuchel’s side will go the distance. ITV has rights to three quarter-finals, including the first two picks,. the BBC has the first pick of the semi-finals as well as England’s games in the last 32 and last 16 should they qualify.
Although the BBC is likely to win the ratings head-to-head the World Cup will provide a major commercial boost for ITV at a time when its takeover by the US media company Comcast. which owns Sky, is in its final stages.
ITV’s audience of 10.2 million for England’s Women’s Euro 2025 semi-final win over Italy was its biggest of last year. a figure which should be comfortably beaten this summer.
“We will be producing lots of shorter content,. it will still be a while before we lose the significance of two lots of 45 minutes,” Sloane says. “As sport has grown in popularity the importance of live events has increased. There are not many TV programmes that deliver double digit viewing figures these days,. major football tournaments are definitely one of them.
“It will be a good tournament, but I’m not sure the extra 16 teams will add much to it. There will be some games that are not at the level you would expect at a World Cup. which worries me slightly. There is quite a lot of flab.”
and TikTok have secured rights to livestream the opening 10 minutes of selected matches. by the end of which many of those watching may have dozed off anyway.
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