Goalhanger profit soars as Gary Lineker-owned podcast firm attracts global audience
Profit at Gary Lineker-owned production group Goalhanger has soared as the media group continued to build up a global audience for its portfolio of podcasts.
The group’s retained earnings, a measure of the total profit accumulated since the firm was founded, more than tripled to £4.6m in the seven months to the end of December 2024.
That would imply a profit of £3.1m over just seven months compared with only around £1m in the previous twelve months.
The group, which runs The Rest is History, The Rest is Politics, and The Rest is Money podcasts, among others, posted a near-doubling in the cash it holds to more than £5m.
In signs of its rapid expansion, the company doubled the total number of employees from 16 to 34 over the period. It has since risen to more than 50.
Goalhanger hits 200,000 subscribers
The surge in profitability comes as the Goalhanger hit more than 200,000 paid subscribers for the first time.
The firm has become one of the biggest independent podcast groups globally, with 70m full-episode streams per month, averaging 40 minutes per show across 13 different shows.
Co-founder Jack Davenport said the introduction of video had been an essential ingredient to the company’s rapid audience growth.
“Initially we were very audio focused, and that’s because we had no investment when we started. We were a very low cost model,” Davenport said in an interview with Press Gazette in October.
“Adding video adds two to three times as many people and subsequently cost.
“It would have been a lot more difficult for Goalhanger to start today, given how important video is now than it was.
“I don’t think that you could launch something significant with that super low cost model now. The barriers to entry are now higher, but it’s a lot cheaper than producing an hour of something that would go on on the BBC.”
Goalhanger’s accounts, filed with Companies House this week, showed the firm had to restate its previous numbers after corrected errors resulted in a more than £500,000 reduction in retained earnings and a more than £750,000 increase in deferred income.
Lineker holds a stake equivalent to around a third of the company, according to corporate filings.
Netflix has reportedly signed Lineker’s The Rest Is Football podcast in a deal which will see the former BBC presenter go up against his old employer at next year’s World Cup.