2 weeks Ago By Daniel Hepburn
From Gary Lineker to Gabby Logan to Mark Chapman, Britain's best pundits combine different specialties, but they all transform football from a game into a spectacle full to the brim with detailed analysis and minute-by-minute coverage. Mainly dominated by BBC Sport, Sky Sports and TNT Sports, the football scene in the UK is booming – and is set to reach an ultimate high thanks to advancements in technology and knowledge, with punditry at the very forefront of developments. Amazon Prime and CBS Sports are also regular fixtures in the football sphere - but how much money do the top pundits earn? Per figures from Sportcasting, here’s a deep dive into the salaries of the top 10 highest-earning British pundits - and the sums featured are eye-watering.
1 Gary Lineker Once a cultured centre-forward plying his trade for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Barcelona , Lineker turned his hand to punditry once hanging up the boots – and is now the highest-earning pundit in the UK with an annual salary being £1.3 million in the reporting period of 2023-2024. At the helm of Match of the Day for 25 years now, the former striker’s popularity has risen tenfold since switching to TV as he also delivers FA Cup coverage as a presenter and is often seen at the Sports Personality of the Year awards in some role or another.
On the odd occasion, thanks to his links with Blaugrana, he also shows his face on LaLiga TV. Lineker will leave MOTD in 2025 but continue working with the BBC through to the 2026 World Cup finals. Lineker also boasts the highest net worth of any British sports presenter.
Laura Woods, Alex Scott, and Mark Chapman all feature on a list of British TV's highest-earning sports pundits. 2 Gary Neville Since hanging up his boots, Gary Neville has become busier than ever. A serial winner-turned-businessman, the ex-Manchester United right-back fronts all manner of companies, all while keeping his punditry career intact.
In fact, he earns more than his partner in crime, Carragher, by pocketing a whopping £1,100,000 a year for his exploits. While overseeing The Overlap YouTube channel – which began in 2022 – the Mancunian, one of the best right-backs in Premier League history , has worked with ITV to provide Euro 2024 coverage. Working for the likes of beIN Sports is also on his CV, while – during the 2024/25 campaign – he will make the occasional appearance on the NBC Station across the pond in the United States.
3 Jamie Carragher One half of the UK punditry world’s most famous duo, Jamie Carragher enjoyed a brilliant career at the top of English football – winning the Champions League with Liverpool in the 2004/05 campaign. His expertise and know-how of elite level football has, therefore, seen him transform into one of the best around in the game. As such, he’s paid a handsome £1,000,000 per year from his work with Sky Sports and CBS Sports.
Whether it’s giving a well-informed analysis of the game’s moments or enjoying a laugh on the latter, the ex-Reds defender is one of the most revered pundits on the scene, while he is also a columnist for The Telegraph. Alan Shearer, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher all feature among the best football pundits based on their playing careers. 4 Alan Shearer Despite taking a salary cut from the previous year, Alan Shearer – who remains the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer , remains the second-highest-earning pundit for the BBC and has been a regular for them for over a two-decade period now, sandwiched by a short stint as Magpies manager in 2009.
According to Sportscasting, the former talisman earns £250,000 every 12 months – and that figure was expected to rise before he downplayed rumours of replacing Lineker as the primary host of Match of the Day. Newcastle-born Shearer is a prominent figure on the aforementioned show but also dabbles in live TV and radio coverage for the FA Cup. He’s also employed by Amazon Prime to work as a co-commentator and pundit.
5 Mark Chapman Serving as the predominant presenter on Match of the Day 2, although sometimes being deputised by the likes of Gabby Logan, Alex Scott and Jason Mohammad, Mark Chapman – albeit not a former athlete himself – earns a whopping figure of £250,000 for his work with the BBC as a presenter on both television and radio. The broadcast company are paying some of their top pundits very well The 51-year-old is also the face of rugby for the BBC, leading every avenue of the sport on their channels, all while ensuring that his annual salary is well-earned. His work also spans over to the Beeb’s competition, Sky Sports, where he often leads the League Cup coverage.
Chapman will co-present Match of the Day when Lineker steps down in 2025. 6 Alex Scott Alex Scott , who retired from her playing career in 2017 having played for the likes of Arsenal and Birmingham City, followed in the footsteps of many former professionals by wandering into the world of punditry. The ex-right-back has earned in excess of £220,000 for the BBC in 2024; though, the exact figure remains unknown.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Scott is England women’s fourth-most capped player of all time with 140 appearances. A large chunk of her post-playing life is spent covering the beautiful game, with her being the primary host of Football Focus – which previews all the top football action with detailed analysis – while she also occasionally hosts Match of the Day 2, FA Cup and Women's Super League coverage. 7 Gabby Logan According to Sportscasting, Gabby Logan was set to pocket a grand total of £210,000 in the year 2024.
Not only does she boast prominent roles in football – working on Match of the Day and other live football broadcasts – Logan is also a keen athletics watcher and fronted the coverage for the 2024 Olympics. Similarly to the aforementioned Richards, however, she does not feature on the BBC's 2024 salaries list (minimum earnings £178,000), but the report suggested that she pocketed upwards of £200,000 in 2023. Also, given that she's the face of Champions League and Premier League coverage for Amazon Prime, it's not unfair to say that Logan can really do it all.
Along with Chapman and Kelly Cates, she will co-present MOTD from the 2025-26 season onwards. 8 Micah Richards Despite boasting one of the most memorable faces – and laughs – on sports television, it may come as a surprise that Micah Richards , in comparison to his counterparts, earns so little. The former Manchester City defender, just 36 years of age, took home £205,000 for his 2024 punditry work.
For reference: the loveable pundit earned north of £200,000 from the BBC in 2023. From featuring on Match of the Day to covering live football for the same broadcaster, Richards is also regularly seen on Sky Sports and CBS Sports. The latter sees him alongside the likes of Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher.
What he lacks in perceived experience, he certainly makes up for in charisma. 9 Chris Sutton A key figure in the BBC’s sports coverage – most notably, from a football perspective – former Blackburn Rovers and Celtic striker Chris Sutton may be the lowest-earning pundit on the list but, by no means, is he not handsomely paid. According to the reports, the 51-year-old pocketed a healthy figure between £190,000 and £194,999 between 2023 and 2024 for the Beeb.
Also a regular fixture on BBC Radio 5 Live coverage as their resident co-commentator, he also helps Robbie Savage to operate the 606 phone-in. A recognisable face in Scotland, too, he works as a Sky Sports pundit covering Scottish Premiership action. 10 Ian Wright As genuine as former footballers can be, and an unwavering advocate for the progression of women's football as evidenced in his bottomless pit of knowledge for both games, Ian Wright is a national treasure, and you'd be hard pushed to find someone who almost everyone unanimously believes should probably earn a bit more than he already does.
The former Arsenal striker has been a permanent fixture on our screens since making his first appearance on Match of the Day in 1997; interestingly, he was still actively playing at that stage. He has since gone on to appear regularly for the BBC and ITV, as well as sporadic guest appearances on American television with CBS. Before taking a pay cut in 2020, he was believed to have earned in excess of £200,000 per-year for his media duties, but this now sits at an estimated £150,000.
Figures per Sportcasting - correct as of 24/04/25..
