Alan Shearer Set For Busy World Cup Handling Unique Betfair Campaign

Photo Credits: Graeme J Baty / Shutterstock

Alan Shearer has added to his ever-increasing workload for the World Cup by fronting a new campaign for Betfair. As Betfair ambassador, Shearer will be the face of the new ‘Hot Take Hotline’ initiative designed to spark fan engagement.

Formally launching next week ahead of the World Cup curtain raiser between Mexico and South Africa, Betfair’s unique campaign promises to be a lot of fun. And it seems Shearer is completely on board with it.

Busy schedule

There’s no disguising the fact that Shearer will be in demand throughout the tournament. In terms of the Betfair campaign, fans will be pressing Shearer on a variety of topics, ranging from England’s World Cup chances through to VAR and any other on-field controversies.

Fans can submit their questions to Shearer via a freephone number —  0800 707 4073 — and the Geordie legend will review all topics and respond accordingly. This will be done across all of Betfair’s owned channels, and it will provide a unique spin on the World Cup from an expert qualified to discuss all World Cup matters.

But it would be remiss not to discuss Shearer’s other World Cup commitments. Netflix will be taking the acclaimed football podcast Rest is Football Stateside (New York) this summer. Shearer’s co-hosts Gary Lineker and Micah Richards will be running a daily show, featuring game analysis, special guests and interviews every day to keep fans abreast of the latest tournament developments.

On top of that, Shearer will be assuming punditry duties with the BBC, airing his views in the studio. Shearer, who has worked with the BBC for over 20 years, is part of an extensive line-up of pundits, and it will be a who’s who of footballing royalty, as it includes Wayne Rooney, Olivier Giroud, and Gael Clichy.

Shearer not afraid to hold back

Shearer, who is the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer with 260 goals to his name, has usually been forthright with his opinions. Having acted as a Betfair ambassador for the past couple of years, Shearer usually posts columns on the Premier League, but he has often fallen flat on his face with his predictions.

Before the start of last season, Shearer tipped Liverpool to retain the title. In the end, Arsenal clinched their first league crown in 22 years, finishing 25 points ahead of the Reds, who recently sacked Arne Slot. More surprisingly, he backed Mohamed Salah, who left Anfield, to land the Golden Boot last term, but he was a pale shadow of himself, netting just seven times.

At the time, Shearer wrote: “I do see it being between Haaland and Salah again, just because of the number of chances both teams will create and how dominant they’ll be. They’re both on penalties which is key.

“Joao Pedro could be an outsider too. I’m really interested to see Gyokeres and Sesko, to see if they can continue their goals in the big league rather than where they’ve been. In terms of who wins the Golden Boot, I’ll probably go with Mo Salah.”

World Cup hype in full swing

The hype for the World Cup is ramping up, and international football’s showpiece event is around the corner. With 48 teams in action, there is likely to be a betting frenzy in terms of picks placed at UK’s top bookmakers, but expect plenty of twists and turns. And whether you wish to pick Shearer’s brains or listen to his analysis, he won’t be far from the action.