The Rest is Football – Picture: Netflix
At the beginning of the year, Netflix went all-in on video podcasts with a handful of titles, which has since expanded to over 50 unique podcasts from third-party partners and its own in-house titles. Measuring the success of podcasts has been tricky, though, given that none have featured in the daily top 10s, suggesting viewership might be quite low—that’s until now. The Rest is Football has become Netflix’s first major success in the podcast world.
So, what is the secret sauce that finally pushed a podcast into the upper echelons of Netflix’s charts? In our view: Timing, established talent, and event-driven content.
As we covered previously, Goalhanger Podcasts struck a deal with Netflix to bring Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards’ hit football podcast to the streamer as a daily show specifically for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. With the North American tournament officially kicking off last week, football fever is in full swing, and subscribers are actively seeking out daily punditry and tournament reactions.
Given that many, including myself, grew up with Lineker and Shearer’s commentary and insights on the BBC each World Cup, dating back decades at this point, they’ve got a huge audience, as evidenced by their already massive listener base, which, back in 2024, reportedly reached between 7 and 8 million listeners.
The podcast is one of the first at Netflix to take advantage of going live (The Breakfast Club, The Bill Simmons Show, and Spittin’ Chiclets also go live regularly or daily in some cases), but with the caveat that the livestreams begin on Netflix at 6 AM BST (UK time) or 1 AM ET.
The reason it starts that early is due to time zone differences. When the games actually happen, broadcasting often follows two of the afternoon/early evening World Cup games, and is no doubt timed to allow those who consume the podcast through other platforms to listen on commutes. But given how visual this particular podcast is (especially compared to the like of The Bill Simmons Podcast which did not get a visual evolution when it jumped to Netflix), with the hosts in a snazzy New York studio, lots of guests, actual camera work and production value, it’s no surprise many will hold off and watch when they get home from work, just before that day’s games kick off.
Here’s a breakdown of how The Rest is Football has performed in the Daily Top 10 TV charts over the past week:
| Country | Jun 11 | Jun 12 | Jun 13 | Jun 14 | Jun 15 | Jun 16 | Yesterday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | – | – | 10. | – | – | – | – |
| Bulgaria | – | – | 10. | – | – | – | – |
| Cyprus | 9. | 8. | 8. | – | – | – | – |
| Iceland | 3. | 4. | 3. | 4. | 10. | – | 7. |
| Ireland | 3. | 3. | 3. | 3. | 10. | – | 5. |
| Malta | 4. | 4. | 5. | 7. | – | – | 10. |
| New Zealand | – | 10. | – | – | – | – | – |
| United Arab Emirates | – | 10. | 9. | 10. | – | – | – |
| United Kingdom | 3. | 2. | 2. | 3. | 6. | – | 2. |
Unsurprisingly, the podcast is performing remarkably well in its home territory. In the United Kingdom, where Lineker, Shearer, and Richards are national sporting icons, the show has consistently hovered around the top 3, peaking at #2 overall and holding strong against heavy-hitting scripted dramas. It has also performed exceptionally well in Ireland and Iceland.
Picture Credit: Netflix
This marks a significant milestone for Netflix’s podcasting and talk-show experiment. Up until now, it’s been unclear whether podcasts have been moving the needle, even though they’ve clearly been a priority for 2026.
Per FlixPatrol, this is one of only four shows that it categorizes as talk shows to feature in the top 10s anywhere around the world this year. This is no surprise; as we’ve covered before, the genre especially struggles on Netflix. The Great Indian Kapil Show is perhaps the most successful show Netflix has ever had in the space, having now featured in the Indian daily top 10s for 428 days and counting, and it has been renewed for a fifth season. The only other talk shows to feature in the top 10s in 2026 are two South Korean shows, Chef and My Fridge, and Uh, But Like, Seriously!.
Speaking recently on the Prof G Markets podcast in Los Angeles, the co-CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, said, “We tried talk shows over and over again, and I think the format itself has kind of given way to podcasting.” Per Sarandos, viewers are completely exhausted by the heavily formatted, hyper-rehearsed late-night model. “What they don’t want is the overproduced seven-minute couch interview on the talk show that they used to tune into,” he noted, hinting that audiences are looking for something much more intimate and unfiltered. “They really want to hear this long freeform interview with their no makeup and guard down, just a real casual conversation.” While he didn’t go into specifics on listenership, Sarandos revealed that early data shows audiences “are watching during the day where streaming usually doesn’t take place much.” Many are also watching on their phones, with Sarandos noting that audiences are “watching more mobile than we’re used to seeing on other kinds of programming.”
It’ll be fascinating to see whether the show’s momentum holds as the World Cup progresses into the knockout stages, and, more importantly, whether Netflix attempts to replicate this daily, sports-adjacent formula for other major events going forward.
Have you been tuning into The Rest is Football on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
