Kelly Cates “will join the Match of the Day team after leaving Sky Sports,”
After Gary Lineker leaves, Cates is anticipated to be a member of a three-person presenting team.
After longstanding host Gary Lineker leaves next year, Kelly Cates is expected to be one of the future presenters of Match of the Day.
In addition to front-line BBC presenters Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan, Cates, a regular presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live, is rumored to be a member of a possible new-look squad being lined up for Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2.
Cates will depart Sky Sports, where she presently hosts live football, after being named the best external candidate, according to the Daily Mail, which reported last month that the BBC was investigating a roster of new presenters to replace Lineker.
The BBC is hoping to revamp Match of the Day after 25 years with Lineker in the main chair, so Cates’ departure would be a huge blow to Sky Sports. Cates is the daughter of Liverpool great Sir Kenny Dalglish. In 2016, she returned to Sky as a presenter.
A host rotation would be a major change in and of itself, given Match of the Day has only ever had five presenters in the past: Kenneth Wolstenholme, David Coleman, Jimmy Hill, Des Lynam, and Lineker.
However, if presenters with the known gravitas of Cates, Logan, and Chapman were to take over, there would be relief inside the BBC. In an attempt to draw in a more varied audience, there had been concerns that the BBC may choose a younger and less seasoned candidate.
The BBC has obtained a package of digital rights for its online platforms from the Premier League for the four-year period from 2025-26 to 2028-29, in addition to Match of the Day, Match of the Day 2, and Football Focus.
There will be more football programming as a result, and it is believed that this is a great chance to create content centered around the top flight’s ongoing soap opera that will enhance the main highlights show even in Lineker’s absence.
Additionally, Sky Sports won more live matches through the Premier League’s bidding procedure.
“This improved agreement with more digital content means we can tell the story of the Premier League every day across BBC Sport platforms,” stated Barbara Slater, the departing director of sport, at the time of the agreement. Since then, Alex Kay-Jelski has taken Slater’s job and is in charge of finding Lineker’s replacement.