Ahead of the Game: Lineker to score tax saving from company liquidation
Gary Lineker is set to make a major tax saving after putting his TV film production company into liquidation last week.
Goalhanger Films, which is co-owned by Lineker and former ITV controller Tony Pastor, has appointed a voluntary liquidator despite being a solvent company. The firm’s most recently published accounts show net assets of over £440,000.
Pastor said the film production company was being “mothballed”, with the business increasingly focussing on Goalhanger Podcasts.
The sister company was originally a smaller sideline to Goalhanger Films, but has outgrown it due to the huge success of The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics, and more recently The Rest is Football, which is presented by Lineker.
The decision to liquidate Goalhanger Films comes ahead of tax changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.
Following the Budget, business owners will be liable for a higher rate of capital gains tax from April, when it rises from 10 per cent to 14 per cent before increasing to 18 per cent the following year.
As a result of entering liquidation this month Lineker will pay capital gains tax at 10 per cent on the first £1m paid out to him following the disposal of assets from Goalhanger Films, which is expected to pay off any remaining creditors.
Goalhanger Films has not filed any accounts for over two-and-a-half years, with its most recent financial results, for the year ending May 2022, showing assets of £442,500.
The company applied to change its financial year-end from May to November earlier this year and its 2023 accounts are due to be published by the end of this month.
Goalhanger Podcasts published its 2023 accounts in May, with net assets totalling £590,985.
Goalhanger Films was launched in 2014 with Lineker and Pastor the sole directors. The company has worked on a number of big sports documentaries involving superstars including Mohamed Salah, Serena Williams and Anthony Joshua, as well the BBC programme Football, Prince William And Our Mental Health.
The announcement of Goalhanger Films entering liquidation followed confirmation from the BBC last week that Lineker will stop presenting Match of the Day after 26 years at the end of the season.
The 63-year-old has signed a new one-year contract at the BBC to present FA Cup matches next season and the 2026 World Cup, but having lost the majority of his £1.35m salary will be increasingly focussed on his podcast empire.
Funding black hole threatens rugby breakaway
The proposed breakaway global rugby league which emerged last week has yet to secure concrete funding or a broadcast partner despite ambitions to launch the new competition in 2026.
Sources with knowledge of the rebel league plans have told City PM that while there have been positive conversations with American private equity firms about the project no deal has been signed, and that there have been no talks about potential investment from Saudi Arabia.
The major rugby TV rights holders in the UK — TNT Sports, Sky Sports, BBC and ITV — have had no contact with the breakaway league’s mystery backers to date, with multiple sources at those broadcasters saying they would not engage if they were approached due to their desire to protect existing relationships with the rugby authorities.
This struggle to attract a mainstream broadcast partner echoes the experience of LIV Golf, which was not televised by a third party in its launch season two years ago before it agreed a deal with American entertainment network CW in 2023.
The rugby rebels have attracted interest from players and their agents, with several of the latter group signing non-disclosure agreements to negotiate on behalf of their clients.
The RFU and Premiership Rugby remain relaxed about the situation however, not least as they have just signed a new £264m, eight-year Professional Game Partnership which gives them joint control of international players.
Under the terms of that agreement the RFU will not permit players based outside of England to play for the national team, which in effect would force those wishing to join the rebel league to choose between playing for a new franchise or their country.
Numbers don’t add up for QPR sponsor Retexo
Queens Park Rangers’ struggles at the bottom of the Championship are not providing the best advert for data-based recruitment in football.
The club have a partnership agreement with American data company Retexo Group, which describes itself as the leading analytics and advisory firm in the global football industry, and much of their transfer business last summer was governed by a data-led approach rather than old-fashioned scouting.
Head coach Marti Cifuentes signed players on permanent deals and made two loan signings but the new recruits have not had the desired impact, with QPR bottom of the Championship after 13 matches.
Another explanation for QPR’s problems is the fact that all the new signings arrived on free transfers, suggesting that even in the post-Moneyball era you get what you pay for.
WSL blows whistle on Sunday night kick-offs
The Women’s Super League is set to drop its unpopular Sunday evening fixtures when a new TV deal begins next season following talks with broadcast partners.
Sky Sports is ready to commit to giving the WSL a regular kick-off slot at midday on Sundays despite a clash with men’s EFL fixtures, while the BBC is planning to show most of its matches at 2:30pm on Sundays.
This will clash with several of Sky’s 2pm Premier League kick-offs, but avoid a direct crossover with the biggest men’s game of the day at 4:30pm.
The other WSL TV games are likely to be scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings, but not on a regular basis.