Neville's Overlap buys Goldbridge's YouTube channels

Gary Neville's The Overlap has bought Manchester United influencer Mark Goldbridge's YouTube channels.

Goldbridge's The United Stand channel has 2.26 million subscribers, and involves viewers watching his live reactions to Manchester United games.

His That's Football platform - which looks at the sport more broadly - has 1.46 million subscribers.

The Overlap, which was founded by former United defender Neville in 2021 and produces podcasts, videos, and social content, has paid an undisclosed seven-figure sum for the two channels.

"We are building what we believe will become one of the most exciting independent football communities in the world - one that gives fans direct, personality-led content," said Neville, who is the executive director of The Overlap.

"The United Stand and That's Football are two of the best-known football channels on YouTube, and our intention is to develop them into the most compelling Manchester United and football news channels in the market."

The deal also includes all other social media platforms linked to The United Stand and That's Football.

Across TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook, the United Stand has a combined 4.4m followers, while That's Football has nearly 350,000.

The Overlap's YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers and its content includes its flagship show Stick to Football, which features Neville and fellow pundits Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright discussing football matters.

In the announcement of the deal, the Overlap said Goldbridge's channels will undergo "significant editorial expansion" under their ownership.

It said it will introduce a new Stick to United strand which features former players and journalists, alongside a daily news show called Daily United.

Goldbridge, whose real name is Brent di Cesare, said: "I've spent the last 10 years building The United Stand for Manchester United fans and That's Football for all fans, and I'm prouder of that than anything I've ever done.

"This deal is about what comes next. The Overlap has the ambition, the credibility, and the resources to help me take what I do to the next level."

Neville has previously criticised Arsenal-dedicated fan YouTube channel ArsenalFanTV, labelling it as "embarrassing" after fans on the platform berated former manager Arsene Wenger following a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea in 2017.

The ex-England defender's comments led to Twitter spat between him and ArsenalFanTV, and he later appeared in an interview on the channel to clarify his views.

Clips from Goldbridge's videos often go viral online for his outlandish reactions and controversial football opinions.

Last year, the 47-year-old became one of the first content creators to secure live rights for top-flight European football. He was named among the rights holders for live Bundesliga matches for the 2025-26 season.

"Mark has built two of the biggest audiences in this space, and this deal accelerates everything we are building towards," said Scott Melvin, the executive director of The Overlap.

In January, media and entertainment company Global acquired a majority stake in The Overlap.

On the face of it, this deal makes solid economic sense.

Between the two parties, there is a captive audience that runs into many millions.

Traditionalists may recoil, but through United Stand in particular, Mark Goldbridge has tapped into an audience that lap up his 'forthright' views. That audience contains a large number of the younger demographic every media organisation is looking to attract.

The Overlap has evolved but the core principle remains the same as a group of very well known, successful, former international players chat at length about the issues of the day.

Manchester United themselves created a template for this through the early origins of in-house channel MUTV. The new incarnation benefits from being free of club censorship.

The idea behind this deal is to expand the format across clubs and countries. A target of 15 to 20 million fans interacting on various platforms globally is huge.

Yet Neville has ties to Manchester United that do appear slightly at odds with Goldbridge's sometimes extreme and blunt criticisms of players and performances.

Neville was involved in the taskforce around the viability of a new stadium. In December, he spoke at Old Trafford at the announcement that the UA92 university he helped launch with his fellow Class of 92 members would use some suites at Old Trafford as part of its campus.

At the time, Neville said the relationship with the Class of 92 and the club they served with such distinction was much improved and they were all "desperate for the club to succeed".

Current head coach Michael Carrick has said even opinions of his former team-mates should have no effect on his players and he was not worried about them.

Now the link is so close, it will be interesting to see what Carrick's reaction is the first time Goldbridge voices an objectionable opinion, or, indeed, whether Neville asks him to tone it down.