Global Media & Entertainment has acquired a majority stake in The Overlap, a YouTube sports channel founded in 2021 by Gary Neville, former right-back for Manchester United. The signature podcast is Stick to Football, with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott, Ian Wright and Roy Keane. The latest episode brought on as a guest golfer Rory McIlroy. Other podcasts include D-Fan Debate, Bundesliga Coverage and The Overlap Quiz.
No financial terms have been disclosed, but Global has made its purchase from the marketing firm Miroma Group (London), whose stake (purchased in February 2023) was not in the YouTube channel itself but in its production company, Buzz16. Neville founded that too, in 2016. Miroma has now severed its connection with both.
The Overlap has 1.58 million subscribers and 2,000-odd videos posted. By SocialBlade’s estimate, the channel’s total views are nearing 875 million. Global says the channel exceeds 38 million views per month, while The Overlap itself says it reached 2.2 billion views on all platforms in 2025 – all platforms comprising such sister channels as The Overlap US, The Overlap Cricket and The Overlap Breakdown. According to GBNews, the channel’s assets stood at £406,000 (€469k) on June 30, 2024.
The deal with Global aims to “build out a media network spanning multiple brands and channels across sports verticals, led by football.” The company will have dual Chairmen, Neville and Global’s CEO, Simon Pitts. Scott Melvin is to serve as Executive Director.
Back in October Global inaugurated Sport by Global, a division dedicated to “branded entertainment.” It will be forming partnerships with sports-rights holders, sponsors and events so as to provide “fan and brand experiences.”
The sports-podcast market
The analytics are imprecise, but The Overlap ranks high among YouTube sports channels in the UK – ahead of, say, The Rest Is Football (est. March 2023, 457k subscribers, 97m views) and Global-ownedThe Sports Agents (est. Nov. 2024, 5k subscribers, 884k views). The top sports podcast on YouTube’s top 100 list (for Dec. 22-28, 2025) is The Pat McAfee Show (US, est. Aug. 2017, 2.95m subscribers, 2.43bn views). It is ranked 12th.
About Global
Founded in 2007 by Ashley Tabor-King and headquartered in London, Global is both the largest commercial radio broadcaster in the UK and an out-of-home (OOH) advertising firm operating in Europe. It owns the radio networks Capital, Heart, Smooth, Radio X, Gold, Classic FM and LBC. Its other acquisitions include Chrysalis Radio, GCap Media, GMG Radio, Captivate (podcasts) and the advertising firm Primesight/Outdoor Plus.
Global was the Official Audio Partner for Team GB during the 2024 Olympic Games and formed a partnership with Vodaphone and Barclays for “audio, creative out-of-home, content and experiences” during the 2025 edition of Wimbledon.
