Why ‘podcast wars’ will be real broadcast battleground at this World Cup

This summer’s hottest rivalry no longer belongs to the BBC and ITV, but football’s online and streaming presence

For the first time since the BBC and ITV began sharing World Cup coverage in 1966 their local rivalry will not be the main broadcasting battleground this summer.

In keeping with the first World Cup staged across three countries the expanded 48-team tournament will play out as a global media event, with YouTube and TikTok broadcasting live action for the first time and Netflix streaming a daily TV show, Gary Lineker’s The Rest is Football, with the previously homespun podcast relocating to Times Square for almost six weeks.