Ted Lasso, the U.S. college football coach hired to manage and English soccer team in the television series named after the character, is featured on billboards with messages to players on the American World Cup roster in an advertising campaign promoted by the U.S. Soccer Federation. Many of the ads appear to have been erected in the hometowns and areas of schools attended by the American players.
"You were just a teeny Turner in Park Ridge, NJ when you took up soccer to stay in shape for baseball and basketball, then you discovered your pastime was a ion, like when I started baking to improve by hand-eye coordination," read a letter to Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner posted at Saint Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey, where Turner was in the class of 2012.
Lasso originally appeared in a 2013 advertising campaign created by The Brooklyn Brothers agency for Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal, which owns U.S. Premier League rights. The "Ted Lasso" show began airing in 2020 on AppleTV+, the subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc., which in June announced a 10-year broadcast contract with Major League Soccer that starts next year. The show has won 11 Emmy Awards.