The BBC has confirmed that Gary Lineker will step down as host of Match of the Day at the end of this season.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the corporation said he will continue to present coverage of the FA Cup in 2025/26 and will work on the 2026 World Cup.
News of the 63-year-old’s departure from the BBC’s flagship football show on Saturday nights after 25 years broke on Monday.
It is understood that Lineker was open to remaining MOTD presenter but the BBC did not offer him a new contract for the show.
The BBC said: “The show continually evolves for changing viewing habits, bringing its unique and unmatched analysis and commentary across all platforms. Future plans for Match of the Day will be announced in due course.”
Lineker, who has hosted Match of the Day since taking over from Des Lynam in 1999, said in the BBC statement: “I’m delighted to continue my long association with BBC Sport and would like to thank all those who made this happen.”
Lineker will continue to appear on the MOTD Top Ten podcast, while his The Rest Is Football podcast will now be hosted on BBC Sounds.
His podcast empire forms a key part of his business ventures away from his Match of the Day presenting duties, as Yahoo News UK explains.
Away from the BBC, Lineker is the owner of a podcasting empire, in the form of Goalhanger Podcasts, responsible for shows such as The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics, The Rest Is Entertainment and The Rest Is Football, which Lineker himself presents with BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
Goalhanger was founded six years ago by Lineker and former TV and radio executives Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport, and says its 12 podcasts collectively have more than 40 million downloads a month.
The most popular is The Rest Is History, fronted by historians and authors Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, which regularly tops various UK podcast charts on different providers and has a live touring show.
Not far behind it is The Rest Is Politics, presented by former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and ex-Tory minister Rory Stewart, which has more than two million listens each week and was recently broadcast live to about 13,000 people at London’s O2 Arena.
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Lineker, was a huge success during the summer’s Euros tournament, podcasting daily and amassing almost 20 million downloads, but caused controversy with one episode in which Lineker described an England performance as “s**t”.
Currently available on services such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and Amazon Music, it is understood there will be one weekly episode of The Rest Is Football on BBC Sounds from next month.
Lineker also has his own production company, Goalhanger Films, established 10 years ago, which has produced programmes on ex-footballer Wayne Rooney and boxer Anthony Joshua, and is working on a show for Amazon about former tennis star Serena Williams.
Lineker has also been an angel investor for a number of start-ups, backing insurance firms Neos and Ingenie in the past.
Lineker also remains an ambassador for Walkers’ crisps, having signed a three-year contract extension in 2023 – his first advert appearance for the snack was broadcast in 1995.
Lineker has a reported net worth of about £30m, with the BBC saying in its latest annual report in July that he earns between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 a year.
He agreed to a pay cut in 2020 as part of a five-year contract, having previously been paid about £1.75m a year.
The Times reported in June that he made more than £125,000 in the first two weeks of the Euros from his The Rest Is Football podcast.
The newspaper said Goalhanger’s most recent accounts, for the 12 months to May 2023, showed its capital and reserves had almost trebled to £591,000, but that this figure was likely to be substantially surpassed when its total is calculated for the year that followed.
The previous three-year contract he signed with Walkers crisps, in 2020, was worth £1.2m.
Lineker has four sons with his first wife, Michelle Cockayne, who he married in 1986.
His eldest son, George, is the co-founder of telecoms start-up Your Business Number, which lets customers pay for a virtual phone number used to contact clients through WhatsApp business, without the need for an extra phone line. In 2022, it was valued at £5.5m.
Lineker’s second oldest son, Harry, works as a producer at his father’s production company, Goalhanger Films.
Lineker’s other sons, Tobias and Angus, are a DJ and business development manager respectively.
Watch: Gary Lineker to leave Match Of The Day but will host FA Cup coverage in 2025/26
