After tumultuous week with Gary Lineker exit, BBC has chance to change Match of the Day
After the carefully crafted departure quotes, Gary Lineker predictably chose his The Rest Is Football podcast to provide rather more insight into the looming end of a 25-year stint presenting Match of the Day.
“I think the next contract, they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently,” said Lineker. “So I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm. I feel this is now the right time.”
Following a tumultuous week, it was a remark that sparked more questions than answers for a beloved format that has long defied television gravity.
At a time of declining television audiences and sharply changing viewing habits that has seen live action – but little else – remain unscathed in sports broadcasting, Match of the Day has gone from strength to strength. Indeed, while preview and highlights programmes have gradually disappeared from our screens, Match of the Day has actually significantly grown its audience over the past 15 years.
Love him or loathe him, a large part of that is undoubtedly the familiarity and gravitas that Lineker personally provides as one of only five permanent presenters in the programme’s entire 60-year history.
MotD connects millions to a sport they have been priced out of
It is why Lineker’s own suggestion that his departure is linked to further change feels like a moment of significant risk, not just to the BBC but actually also the Premier League.
With around four times more people tuning into Match of the Day than a live Premier League match on subscription TV, what is the oldest football show in the world also continues to provide a crucial free-to-air platform for tens of millions to remain connected to the competition. That really matters at a time when so many fans already feel priced out of football.
And, when some of your biggest selling points are consistency, simplicity and tradition, it is not difficult to imagine how any wider overreach in searching for a new audience could backfire.
The BBC tried that with MotDx, but the spin-off show was axed after three years. Attempts to ‘refresh’ A Question of Sport from old-school sporting quiz into something resembling comedy also soon died a death.
The BBC has just launched a new reality show that will use TikTok in an attempt to find young football content creators with an ability to connect with new audiences. Social media influencers can attract huge numbers of followers on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube and, while the BBC clearly cannot ignore those opportunities, it must surely also remember that its greatest strength is in providing authoritative balance to its coverage.
Any assumption that young people are less likely to connect with an older presenter is clearly also flawed. The 63-year-old Lineker and Des Lynam before – who became a cult hero to the 1990s generation (remember that ‘Des is God’ Robbie Williams T-shirt) – comprehensively prove that.
Key to understanding what might change on Match of the Day next year is the package of rights that the BBC won in the Premier League auction last year that covers the four-season period from 2025-6 until 2028-29. As well as Match of the Day, Match of the Day 2 and Football Focus, it includes additional digital rights for its online platforms.
That means additional football programming, and there is a feeling that this represents a huge opportunity to build content around the soap opera that is the Premier League in a way that can strengthen rather than diminish the flagship highlights show.
At the time of the deal, Barbara Slater, the outgoing director of sport, said: “This enhanced deal with more digital content means we can tell the story of the Premier League every day across BBC Sport platforms.”
New rights package suggests MotD more likely to expand
The ambition, then, is not to maintain Match of the Day’s place in the ecosystem but to grow it. Slater has since been replaced by Alex Kay-Jelski, who is understood to be considering a rota of new presenters among the succession options.
That would be a considerable departure given how, like Soccer Saturday and Jeff Stelling, the Match of the Day brand has so benefitted from being synonymous with one individual. Kenneth Wolstenholme, David Coleman, Jimmy Hill, Lynam and Lineker, remember, are its only regular presenters. It’s no coincidence that they are also all authentic titans of their industry.
It is also why many BBC insiders want a succession that is not unnecessarily complicated and simply passes the baton to another experienced heavyweight of the field. It was the approach that was taken when a BBC Sport vacancy of a comparable size was last left – Clare Balding replacing Sue Barker at Wimbledon in 2023 – and, in conversations with insiders this week, three names constantly came up: Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan.
“You can’t fake gravitas and knowledge,” said one BBC producer with more than 20 years experience. “I have always tried to bring through young talent but it is not instant. You have to build a credible relationship with your audience. You want the personality to come through but that only really happens in an authentic way when you are relaxed, when you have the experiences and frames of reference, and when you have built trust with the viewers. It takes time for an audience to adjust but also for that person to get in their comfort zone.
“Mark Chapman is perfect. Kelly Cates is another wonderful presenter with the authority that her football knowledge brings. Gabby Logan is in the same bracket. Match of the Day is iconic. It’s an institution – it’s not a place where you learn the ropes. It’s the finishing school. They should make a sensible rather than left-field choice. It’s really not that complicated. You already have candidates with vast authority like Mark, Kelly and Gabby. After that, I think you are taking more of a risk.”
A current BBC Premier League commentator added: “I don’t like the idea of chopping and changing presenters. Having an identifiable single host has been shown to work. I think it’s important next season that Match of the Day makes a seamless transition that prioritises retaining its core viewership because, once people go, they don’t easily come back.
“It then of course makes sense to build all the digital opportunities around that. That is what all media organisations are trying to do. The BBC, remember, has a responsibility to cater for all parts of the public and, while that means you can’t please everyone, I think it actually balances that well.
“But it should be steady as she goes with Match of the Day. Of course it’s going to be different and a new chapter but you don’t need a wider overhaul of the format or the pundits. It’s necessary to tinker – but not to lurch. It’s too loved. It’s heritage is too big.”