Match of the Day could have a rivalry from a familiar face with Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football to carry on into the Premier League.
Netflix trialled the show over the World Cup, and it was clearly a big success as they are staying on the streaming platform.
In an announcement, Lineker said on Monday: “I’ve got some very exciting news.
“From the start of the Premier League season, which kicks off in just 32 days, we are back on Netflix, baby! The Rest Is Football will be on Netflix every week.
“What do we make of that, lads?”
Micah Richards then added: “Wow, that is amazing news.”
Lineker responded: “It’s great, isn’t it? So, the details we’ll give to you. We’ve had a blast.”
Alan Shearer said: “Brilliant, looking forward to it. Everyone must have enjoyed it then? We’ve had a laugh, haven’t we.”
Of course, they won’t actually be able to show highlights from any of the games as Netflix are not official rights holders for any part of the Premier League.
During the World Cup, there were daily shows and watchalongs all on Netflix, but it remains to be seen what route they go down.
The Rest is Football is already a podcast as well, but it’s unclear if that will continue or not.
However, some football fans think this is bad news for Match of the Day.
One supporter on X commented: “Yeah Match Of The Day is finished.”
Another added: “Finally! Lineker, Shearer and Micah back on Netflix every week. MOTD who? This is the future of Prem chat!”
One more said: “It was already finished, this just put the final nail in its coffin.””
However, there were plenty of other fans who don’t think this will make any difference as crucially they can’t show the highlights.
One user said: “How, when they can’t show the footage?”
Another commented: “This has nothing to do with MOTD lol . It’ll just be talking about the points of games from the weekend.”
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Finally, one more added: “It’s really not. MOTD is still the go to for the highlights. This is just a televised podcast and analysis.”
Threat to MOTD?
Match of the Day has the highlights and then the analysis, and if The Rest is Football follows the same route it went down during the World Cup, it would be pure football chat.
As mentioned, they don’t have any rights.
Of course, Sky Sports and the Premier League all already show their own highlights packages on YouTube as well but Match of the Day has endured through that.
