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It was only February last year when Mark Goldbridge released an 11-minute video titled ‘The Problem with Gary Neville!’, claiming the former Manchester United captain was too closely linked to the club’s co-owners Ineos.
Fast forward 14 months and the pair are in business together, after Neville’s media business The Overlap acquired two YouTube channels run by Goldbridge in a deal reportedly worth more than UK£1 million (US$1.35 million).
While the pairing of policeman-turned-content creator Goldbridge and Neville, one of English soccer’s most recognised pundits, might have seemed unlikely on paper, the move brings together two increasingly influential figures in the world of digital soccer media.
Goldbridge “reflects how fans talk around football”
Indeed, Goldbridge’s live watchalongs and viral foul-mouthed rants on the state of Manchester United have accelerated his popularity, and he now boasts a combined 3.7 million subscribers across his ‘The United Stand’ and ‘That’s Football’ YouTube channels, making him one of the most high-profile soccer streamers in the world.
The 47-year-old, whose real name is Brent di Cesare, is at the forefront of a rise in independent fan-led channels which have emerged at a time when younger fans increasingly consume sports through social media, rather than via traditional broadcasters.
While Neville has previously criticised “those bloody YouTubers”, the success of online creators has become difficult to ignore, particularly now he is building his own media empire.
The Overlap, which features the ‘Stick to Football’ show, generated 2.2 billion views across all platforms last year (Image credit: Global)
Established in 2021, The Overlap is best known for its flagship ‘Stick to Football’ video podcast series, which features the likes of Roy Keane, Jill Scott, Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher and a range of guest interviews. It has branched out with versions of the same show for rugby and cricket, while it also airs a Fan Debate programme featuring representatives of popular fan channels across English soccer.
Last year, the Overlap claimed to generate 2.2 billion views across all platforms and 38 million monthly views on YouTube, and its success led to the company being acquired in January by commercial radio juggernaut Global.
The Overlap might have built a significant following on its own, but its audience likely skews more towards traditional soccer fans lured in by the involvement of former players who provide authoritative insight into the inner workings of the game.
While the Overlap has given Neville and Carragher another outlet for their views, they remain leading pundits for Premier League broadcaster Sky Sports. Goldbridge and other fan channels, however, are digital natives not bound by the same relationships with established media, meaning they are less likely to hold back with their opinions.
With that in mind, the addition of Goldbridge’s channels provides access to a highly engaged audience that might not otherwise interact with the Overlap’s existing programming.
“Part of the appeal of him [Goldbridge] and people like him is that they’re outside the system,” Adam Raincock, co-founder of The Space Between agency tells SportsPro. “They’re not a traditional journalist or ex-player; they’re not bound by specific scheduling. That’s the appeal.
“If you’re a fan or a viewer, the creator feels like an extension of you, and we like seeing someone like us build something really successful. [Goldbridge] can jump on the instantaneous nature of news, and he can give an unfiltered view, he can say and do things that The Overlap or even Global could never get away with.
“He reflects how fans talk and interact around football.”
Building a club-driven content network
Goldbridge also gives the Overlap content frequency and volume. Stick to Football typically airs weekly, whereas independent creators like Goldbridge instantly stream their reaction to breaking news stories, meeting the demands of fans seeking reactive coverage not restricted by broadcast scheduling.
Goldbridge publishes new videos almost daily and his two channels have different offerings. The United Stand focuses on Manchester United and has 2.25 million subscribers, while ‘That’s Football’ covers general soccer stories and news, reaching 1.46 million subscribers.
As part of the acquisition, That’s Football will be rebranded and relaunched as a soccer news and podcast outlet, while ‘The United Stand’ will be boosted by new formats featuring former United players and journalists.
That could soon form part of a much wider offering. Neville has hinted that Goldbridge’s channels could be the first of several acquisitions by The Overlap, which is aiming to build a network of YouTube channels and fan-led podcasts covering European soccer’s most popular clubs.
YouTube channels like Arsenal Fan TV come under fire for benefiting from the Gunners’ bad results (Image credit: Getty Images)
While other fan channels like Arsenal Fan TV have sometimes been criticised for profiting from their club’s failures, their growth shows that audiences increasingly want dedicated coverage of a single team.
“Fans want to go there because they want the show which talks about Man United for one or two hours,” Raincock notes. “That is a different consumption pattern to a general football show which talks about the bigger issues in football.
“So you’ve got differences in format, you’ve probably got differences in the audiences, and you’ve got differences in conversation as well. Because The Overlap is never going to get into the same level of detail that Mark can provide on things happening at Man United on his United Stand channel.”
That approach would naturally come with commercial benefits, too. Establishing a network of fan channels would not only grow and diversify the Overlap’s following, but it would also enable it to offer advertisers access to highly targeted audiences who follow specific clubs.
“They [The Overlap] will want to buy deep verticals within club fandom to set up a network to then offer to brands,” Raincock says. “From a commercial view, it is about being able to provide really targeted campaigns across a number of channels that reach specific audiences.
“The strategy is about feeding a central commercial model that can then go out and speak to brands to offer a range of services.”
‘Everyone will be watching if it’s a success’
The Overlap has drawn comparisons with Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger, which operates ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast co-hosted by the former Match of the Day presenter alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
The Rest is Football is part of a wider network covering other subjects like history and politics under the same umbrella. Together, they attract 250,000 paying members and generated more than 750 million full-episode views and streams last year. Like the Overlap, Goalhanger is expected to expand its offering after receiving investment from growth equity firm The Chernin Group back in January.
That growth hasn’t gone unnoticed by established media companies, which are now looking to build relationships with creators and their audiences, rather than compete with them for attention.
Global’s investment in the Overlap, for example, comes as part of a wider shift towards personality-driven content which has seen the company launch dedicated divisions for sports and video podcasts. It also recently purchased The Fellas Studios, another production company co-founded by YouTubers Callum Airey and Joshua Larkin, adding to its portfolio of radio stations, including LBC, Capital and Heart.
Netflix, meanwhile, struck a reported UK£14 million (US$19 million) deal with Goalhanger to distribute daily video episodes of The Rest is Football during the upcoming Fifa World Cup.
Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Productions has secured a deal for Netflix to distribute The Rest is Football during the 2026 Fifa World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)
Sports rights holders have also spied an opportunity to reach different audiences through creator and fan-led platforms. Both the Overlap and Goldbridge are part of the Bundesliga’s UK broadcast mix, while Goalhanger previously struck a deal with LaLiga.
With the Overlap now acquiring Goldbridge’s channels, it will be one of the first opportunities to see what happens when two worlds collide. Having achieved success independent of each other, the question now is whether they can keep growing together.
“Everyone will be looking at this deal, and everyone will be watching to see whether they can make it a success, in terms of balancing the coming together of a bigger commercial entity with something built from the ground up by fans,” Raincock adds.
“My belief is that they will make it a success, because I think The Overlap is savvy enough to be able to thread that needle.
“If they do make it a success, I see this becoming a blueprint for how you build audiences and reach in a modern media company. I would expect more deals happening like this in sport and outside of sport as well.”
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