Podcast production company Goalhanger passes 250,000 paying subscribers mark

Goalhanger, the podcast production company behind hit shows such as The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics, has just reached a major milestone with over 250,000 paying subscribers across its network of shows and generating £15 million a year.

With an average subscription of £60 per year, members enjoy attractive benefits including ad-free listening, early access to episodes, bonus content, email newsletters, priority access to tickets for live events and exclusive chat rooms on Discord.

Who is Goalhanger?

Goalhanger is the largest independent podcast production company in the UK and the largest outside the US. Co-founded by celebrity sports presenter and former professional footballer Gary Lineker, alongside former ITV Director of Sport Tony Pastor and former BBC senior journalist Jack Davenport, the company started out producing sports documentaries before turning to podcasting in 2018. In 2024, its podcasts recorded more than 400 million downloads, with flagship programmes such as The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is Football. Defining itself as a next-generation media brand, Goalhanger focuses on talent, storytelling and building loyal communities, covering topics as diverse as history, politics, sport, economics and entertainment.

An expanding network

Of the 14 programmes produced by Goalhanger, eight currently offer subscription packages: The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics, The Rest Is Politics: US, The Rest Is Entertainment, Empire, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, The Rest Is Classified and Sherlock & Co.

The flagship programme The Rest Is History even offers a premium ‘Athelstan’ package named after England’s first king for £25 a month, with access to a bi-annual party and a quarterly quiz on Zoom.

The company’s first show, Ways of Making You Talk, runs on a Patreon-based membership system, with 5,533 members paying £5 a month. For most of its other memberships, Goalhanger uses the Supporting Cast platform.

Impressive growth

Describing itself as “the world’s fastest growing media and production company”, Goalhanger has recently strengthened its team with strategic hires: former Sunday Times journalist Emily Kent Smith has joined as the new editorial director, Uber executive Andy Hodgson has become finance director, and former Audio UK managing director Chloe Straw is now operations director.

The company currently records some 70 million full episode views per month on audio and video platforms for its 14 regular shows. The expansion into video has been particularly successful, with 750 million views of full video episodes recorded last year.

Fan community strategy

Conrad Withey, Goalhanger’s commercial director, explains the company’s philosophy during a talk on the Media Club podcast: “At the end of the day, we create communities of fans around our shows and almost always, those fans want more. If we can offer them that and make it a business model that complements everything else we do, that’s powerful.”

He stresses the importance of the relationship with listeners: “The great thing about membership is that you get to know your listener, your viewer, your customer. It’s a different and much more intimate relationship. Podcasts naturally offer this immersive experience, where the audience feels close to the presenters and wants a deeper involvement. And thanks to membership, you get data and information that also reinforces the advertising side…”

In addition to subscriptions, Goalhanger is diversifying its revenue streams with sponsorship, advertising, merchandising and live events, consolidating its position as a leader in the podcast industry.