09/08/2026
David Baddiel reveals how little Three Lions earned him during the 2018 World Cup from Spotify despite millions of streams
For generations of England fans, Three Lions has become more than just a football song. It's the soundtrack to every major tournament, blasted out in pubs, living rooms and fan zones whenever hope starts to build that football really might be coming home.
But despite its enduring popularity and millions of streams, David Baddiel has revealed that the song's creators earned surprisingly little from Spotify during one of its biggest modern revivals.
Speaking on the Comfort Eating podcast, Baddiel said that when England faced Colombia at the 2018 World Cup, Three Lions was downloaded four million times. Yet the payout to him, Frank Skinner and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds amounted to just £1,200 in total.
Reflecting on the earnings, Baddiel said: “Not money, for a start.”
Asked what the song had brought him apart from fame, he explained: “It brought me, Frank and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds a fair wedge.”
However, he added that things changed dramatically with the rise of streaming services.
“But not since Spotify took over has it brought us much money. In fact, when England played Colombia in the 2018 World Cup, it was downloaded four million times — for which Frank, Ian and I received £1,200 from Spotify.”
That works out at around 0.003p per stream, a figure that highlights the ongoing debate around how artists and songwriters are paid in the streaming era.
Of course, Baddiel was quick to point out that he isn't claiming poverty. The song was a huge commercial success when it was first released ahead of Euro 96 and generated significant income at the time.
Speaking about the record's success, he said: “It (Three Lions) came out in 1996, and it went platinum in 1996 – just to be clear we’ve done OK.”
The comedian also opened up about his attitude towards money and why, despite having enjoyed a successful career, he and his wife, writer and actress Morwenna Banks, have never been particularly flashy with their wealth.
Baddiel explained that both of them come from relatively modest backgrounds and still find it difficult to indulge in luxury.
He said: “Let me tell you something that just happened today. Because I am from sort of lower middle-class immigrant stock, and I’ve done alright in my life, but I find it quite hard, as does my wife Morwenna Banks, who is from rural poverty in Cornwall, to actually flex anything.”
In fact, the couple's latest splurge was surprisingly humble.
Baddiel revealed that they had recently bought a pair of better-quality towels after finally deciding they deserved something a little nicer after years of making do.
He joked: “Yesterday, two towels arrived, that have a high thread count that were quite fluffy. And that’s because we sat there the other day, having got out the bath, saying ‘Why are we drying ourselves with these rags – surely we can do better that this?’”
