Goalhanger bringing ad sales in-house
October 1, 2026



Goalhanger, is bringing its advertising sales operation fully in-house from January 2027, giving agencies and brands a direct route to its audiences, talent and commercial opportunities. The move gives agencies and brands a direct route to Goalhanger’s entire portfolio, including The Rest Is… network.

Rather than buying podcast advertising as a standalone line item, brands will be able to build partnerships spanning audio, video, social, newsletters, live events, branded editorial and branded content, directly with Goalhanger’s own in-house commercial team.


Goalhanger’s network generated more than 750 million full-episode views and streams in 2025 and is on track to exceed 1 billion in 2026.

Josh Akers, Director of Commercial Operations at Goalhanger, commented: “Goalhanger has reached the scale where having full in-house ownership of our advertising sales operation is the natural next step. We’re approaching a billion full-episode views and streams a year, and the commercial opportunity around the network has grown significantly alongside it. We’ve been building out our in-house commercial capabilities across partnerships, delivery and creative production over the recent years to give us greater ownership of our revenue, building closer relationships with our media agency and client partners. That enhanced infrastructure will be pivotal in supporting this next phase of the business’s growth.”

Goalhanger has already expanded its work with advertisers well beyond traditional audio advertising, developing partnerships that combine its shows, talent and cross-platform audiences. Longstanding partnerships include Fuse Energy, Presenting Partner of The Rest Is Politics, while campaigns have also included the People’s Postcode Lottery partnership across four of its flagship shows; Guinness’ long-term sponsorship of The Rest Is Football, combining audio, branded editorial and live activation; and recently Starr, working with heavyweight names such as Alastair Campbell, Anita Anand & Robert Peston as part of the inaugural The Risk Briefing live event series.

More recently, NBCUniversal partnered with Goalhanger on a multi-show campaign for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, culminating in actor Tom Holland meeting historian and co-host of The Rest Is History also named Tom Holland for a conversation that went viral cross-platform ahead of the film’s release.

Other recent partnerships include Cancer Research UK, demystifying cancer innovation on The Rest Is Science; Octopus Energy on The Rest Is Entertainment & The Rest Is Money; and Vanguard’s sponsorship of TRIP: US co-host Katty Kay’s six-part series Doing It Anyway.

Charlotte Robbins, Head of Partnerships at Goalhanger, added: “Brands come to us not just to access our audience, but because of the way we work with our hosts. We’re very always-on and have a real startup mentality, so commercial, production and talent aren’t these separate silos – we all sit around the table and work out what’s actually going to work for the brand and, just as importantly, for our audience. Our hosts only want to work with brands they genuinely like, and I think that comes through. It makes for much more authentic & creative partnerships that really do the heavy lifting. Most meetings start with ‘we’ve never tried this but…’”

The move also reflects Goalhanger’s expansion beyond podcasting. The Rest Is Football became a daily Netflix show during the 2026 World Cup, remaining in the UK Daily Top 10 throughout its run and reaching No.1, with the partnership since extended through the 2027/28 domestic football season. In September, 26,000 tickets were sold across 22 shows during the inaugural The Rest Is Fest takeover of London’s Southbank Centre, while former WME executive Tom Miceli has joined as Head of IP Development, overseeing television and film development, licensing, co-productions and formats.

The change relates to advertising representation only. Goalhanger’s shows will continue to be distributed on Spotify alongside all other major platforms.