Hunt’s route into the sport feels central to why his voice carries weight here. He described being pulled in by Dutch football culture while living in Amsterdam, long before Ted Lasso became a hit. “I found a secret that I had to tell everybody,” he said. “When Jason came to Amsterdam, by that point I was fully a zealot.”
That matters because Ted Lasso never treated football as wallpaper. The comedy may have opened the door, but it also left room for tactics, offside, promotion and relegation, and the dressing-room rhythms that make the sport feel real.
Hunt was careful not to overstate the show’s influence, and that restraint is probably why his point lands. “I would love it if we’ve had a role at all,” he said. “If we are a pebble in that avalanche, then I’m happy.”
That feels about right. Ted Lasso did not create America’s football boom on its own, but it appears to have helped soften the edges for new viewers. Hunt’s explanation is simple and smart: “The first thing you’ve got to do to get somebody to become a [football] fan is just make them care about one team.”
Now the show is back for a fourth season, with Jason Sudeikis’ character returning to AFC Richmond to coach a women’s side. Hunt teased Beard’s latest turn by saying, “He is clearly going through something. We’ll find out before too long.”
That is the next watchpoint: not just what happens in Episode 2 on Wednesday, but whether Ted Lasso can again tap into a football culture in the United States that no longer needs introducing - only feeding.