Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football is claiming the title of first podcast to secure a clip rights deal with a major European soccer league after tying with Spain’s La Liga. At the same time, La Liga has confirmed Disney+’s UK and Ireland service has secured rights to the competition for the next three years. …
Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football is claiming the title of first podcast to secure a clip rights deal with a major European soccer league after tying with Spain’s La Liga. At the same time, La Liga has confirmed Disney+’s UK and Ireland service has secured rights to the competition for the next three years.
The podcast deal, which Lineker’s Goalhanger Films struck with La Liga, is also for three years, and will see the launch of a video-first podcast titled The Rest is Football: LaLiga, which former BBC Sports presenter Lineker will host alongside Alex Aljoe. It will be available of YouTube and Spotify in the UK and Ireland, featuring clips from every la Liga game along with expert analysis and discussion.
In the UK, interest in La Liga is spiking with the inclusion of players such as Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold at Real Madrid and Marcus Rashford at champions Barcelona. Lineker, who is set to front ITV reality show The Box, turned out for Barca during his playing career in the 1980s.
“I’ve made no secret of my love for Spanish football over the years,” said Lineker, who is Goalhanger’s co-founder. “Ever since I played there in the late ’80s, I’ve followed the story of La Liga closely. Now, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marcus Rashford joining Jude Bellingham and Conor Gallagher in Spain, all eyes will be on La Liga’s biggest games each week. The Rest Is Football: LaLiga will be the perfect way to catch all the goals and key action.”
Goalhanger’s other co-founder, Tony Pastor, noted that downloads of The Rest is Football spiked to 19.6 million and streams in June 2024 during the last men’s UEFA European Championship, which saw Spain defeat England 2-1 in the final. In particular, YouTube viewing was well up, with “more than half” of the downloads made thrre.
“Bringing weekly match action to The Rest Is Football feels like the natural next step for the show. Podcasting is no longer just an audio medium – video is transforming how people engage with our content and bringing in entirely new audiences,” said Pastor.
The Rest Is Football: LaLiga launches on August 19 and will releases weekly episodes, with the video stream limited to the UK and Ireland.
Disney+ deal
The news came on the same day Disney+ confirmed it had secured a three-year deal, beginning on August 16, that will give subscribers access to live Saturday night La Liga soccer games. This will kick off with Valencia CF hostingReal Sociedad at the Mestalla Stadium from 8:30pm UK local time.
Disney-owned ESPN will provide the production and commentary. Real Madrid and Liverpool legend Steve ‘Macca’ McManaman will lead the commentary team alongside former Arsenal and West Ham midfielder Stewart Robson. Broadcasters Ian Darke and Rob Palmer will alternate play-by-play duties throughout the season.
The deal also sees ESPN.co.uk and ESPN UK’s social channels and YouTube offering highlights of every La Liga game and news on developments in Spain. It comes soon after Disney+ secured exclusive rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League across Europe for the next five years.
“At Disney, we celebrate storytelling that moves and excites,” said Karl Holmes, Disney+ EMEA’s General Manager. “From the cinematic scale of FX’s Alien: Earth to the sharp wit of Only Murders in the Building and the action-packed suspense of Lucasfilm’s Andor, our customers know they’re in for something special. With La Liga joining the line-up, they can experience that same excitement on the pitch with weekly matches featuring legendary clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona and stars like Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold as part of their Disney+ subscription.”
Former Sky finance chief Holmes recently took up his post at Disney+. He’ll soon be joined by long-serving ITV exec Angela Jain, who was named Head of Content for EMEA in June.
Disney+’s move is the latest example of a streaming service acquiring sports rights as a means to attract new subs in the competitive UK market. For example, Prime Video has in recent seasons dipped into the market for Premier League and Champions League games.
La Liga President Javier Tebas said: “Today begins a new era in La Liga’s broadcast distribution in the UK and Ireland.
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Category: General Sports
