How Ted Lasso is putting the spotlight on football in America

My how times have changed.

When I was a kid growing up in middle America, to us, soccer was only an activity we played in physical education class. We knew little, if nothing about the beautiful game. Maybe we had heard of Pele, but that was probably about it. We had no affiliation to clubs, to players or to any of the history about the game the rest of the world called football.

As I grew older and had children of my own, soccer became a weekend activity for kids who didn’t want to play Little League baseball, or be on a swim team. Coaches were just dads like me, trying to keep the other parents happy by making sure their son or daughter got equal playing time.

Then, slowly soccer became a serious sport in the United States. More universities and high school formed teams, the American national teams gained some popularity, and those kids who used play on weekends became the future of soccer in America. Case in point, the World Cup champions of the USA Women’s National Team all had their start in those Saturday morning matches when they were just kids themselves.

Over the years, various professional leagues came into existence in the States, and most failed, but then Major League Soccer formed and stuck it out though some tough times, and now has gained international respect due to the caliber of both players and coaches as well.

Television picked up on this rising tide of soccer interest in the States too, and all of a sudden we could see a variety of soccer matches on American TV. We began to learn about the Premier League, La Liga and so on. We started to adopt our own clubs, and became familiar with players and managers.

Now, soccer in America is a big time sport. As a fan we can watch almost any game played anywhere around the globe on TV, or through cable and streaming services. It’s a beautiful thing.

This leads me to the point of this posting. Who would have thought an American TV show about an American coach going to England to manage an English football club would become a huge television hit in the the United States? Well, the Apple TV series “Ted Lasso” has done just that. The show is so popular in America that it recently won an Emmy Award for best comedy series of the year on American TV!  Come on, really? Yes, really. Jason Sudeikis and company took a marketing idea NBC Sports used when it began airing Premier League matches in America and turned it into a classic in this country. The show is quirky, warm. funny, meaningful, and has probably helped to introduce even more Americans to football.

My only complaint about the show is that it doesn’t do enough about the game itself. Example. In the show’s second season, writers spent more time dealing with storylines about personalities and relationships then it did about Ted coaching his club. Actually, the final episode of Season Two is brilliant, however, it does become a little dark and gloomy toward the end of the episode.  The writers definitely hit a nerve with me, and now I can’t wait to see what happens in Season 3. AFC Richmond has been promoted to the Premier League once again, and now Ted Lasso has some serious issues to overcome, not only in his own life, but in his football life as well. I hope we see more about his football life in Season Three.

So America, if you have a chance, watch it!

Yes, times have changed, and I for one am so happy to see how this great game is becoming so popular in America. Plus, the timing couldn’t be better since the USA will host the 2026 World Cup along with Canada and Mexico.

It’s a beautiful thing, this beautiful game.

Cheers.

Gunner1953