The Rest Is Football scores 19.6m listens during Euro 2024

The Rest Is Football podcast has revealed that it had 19.6 million downloads and full episode YouTube views during Euro 2024. 

The Goalhanger-produced podcast, which is hosted by Gary Lineker, Micah Richards, and Alan Shearer, also reached over 66 million views on social media during the competition. The measurements were taken from June 14-July 16.

Lineker in particular hit the headlines during the competition, with some England players calling out the media’s negativity following his criticism of England’s performance against Denmark on The Rest Is Football.

These numbers came alongside similar success for the company’s The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is History podcasts, and Jack Davenport, co-founder at Goalhanger, said: “These numbers show that 2024 is the year Goalhanger evolved from an audio production company to a mass media publisher, speaking to tens of millions of people worldwide. We want to reach audiences wherever they consume content—whether they prefer podcasting, watching on YouTube, social media, linear TV, or even in print—you can find us there.”

Tony Pastor, co-founder at Goalhanger, added: “The success of our shows proves that the so-called TikTok generation only wanting short-form content is a myth. Half of our audience is under 33 years old and enjoying long-form conversations between intelligent people, discussing everything from history to politics to sports and entertainment. In the build-up to the election, The Rest Is Politics went daily and attracted audiences north of 700,000 audio downloads an episode as people loved the insight of Rory and Alastair. We were able to be nimble, jumping onto YouTube and reacting quickly to breaking news, which proved massively popular with audiences. Similarly, on The Rest Is Football, Gary, Alan, and Micah were able to react to the games as fans and analysts, which viewers and listeners found hugely relatable.”

Gary Lineker, co-host of The Rest Is Football and co-founder at Goalhanger, said: “Hosting The Rest Is Football during the Euros with Alan and Micah has been a blast. The fans’ response has been amazing, and it was fun sharing laughs, stories, and insights about the event’s highs and lows. Everyone has an opinion during a major tournament, but our listeners and viewers have shown they appreciate insightful discussion with a good bit of banter thrown in. Here’s to many more episodes as we approach the new Premier League season.”