The score is now Disney+ 1, Netflix 1.
Disney’s streaming service has struck a deal with former Manchester United footballer and emerging media magnate Gary Neville for podcasts from his Global Studios-owned company, The Overlap.
This follows Netflix branching out into football podcasts over the summer by backing the World Cup editions of Gary Lineker’s show, The Rest is Football. The arrangement highlights the growing power of podcasts led by former players, and the desire for global streamers to sign up video-led sports podcasts.
The agreement sees Disney+ land 40 new episodes of Neville’s show, with the streamer also getting 50 episodes of new series Stick to United with Wayne Rooney. Disney+ will become headline sponsor on both shows during the nearing 2026/27 season.
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The Stick to Football episodes will run on Disney+, other podcast platforms and The Overlap’s YouTube channel, while Stick to United will be on Disney+, other platforms and The Overlap. Twenty episodes will be exclusive to Disney+ for a “limited time.” Disney+ has also commissioned six exclusive extended-length eps of Stick to United that will feature special guests.
Stick to Football is hosted by footballing legends Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott, Ian Wright and Roy Keane, and sees the group welcome guests to discuss all manner of football matters.
Stick to United will see Manchester United record goalscorer Rooney, who was a breakout pundit at the recent World Cup, hosting alongside Mark Goldbridge, the often over-excited and exasperated United fan who has built a huge YouTube following for his views on the team’s performances. They will analyze the English Premier League team’s latest results and biggest talking points.
Goldbridge sold his media channels to The Overlap in April, and today he called Stick to United “an historic milestone for fan-led media.”
Stick to United will stream weekly from next Tuesday (August 18), while Stick to Football will stream weekly in the UK and Ireland from Thursday (August 20).
Neville, co-founder and co-chair of The Overlap, said the “unique partnership that feels right for everyone involved,” and added, “What’s exciting is that we’re not changing who we are. Our community will continue to enjoy our content in exactly the way they always have through YouTube, while at the same time Disney+’s incredible global streaming audience will now be able to discover and enjoy it too.”
“As we move into a new era of sports entertainment on Disney+, we’re excited to be bringing one of the UK’s most popular and distinctive sports shows to the platform,” said Sean Doyle, Disney+ EMEA’s VP, Unscripted. “What Gary and the team at The Overlap have created with Stick to Football – and now Stick to United with Wayne Rooney – is truly unique. Adding both shows broadens our local original content offering as we continue to expand into new sports formats, complementing our existing catalogue of drama, comedy, documentary, reality and ESPN on Disney+.”
Global, the UK-based radio and audio giant, acquired a majority stake in The Overlap in January.