‘Ted Lasso’ Merchandise Is a Lesson in World-Building

Brendan Menapace

Season 2 of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” the story about an earnest American football coach who journeys across the pond to coach the other “football,” is on the way. To get fans ready for the season, Warner Bros. just launched a new online store full of Ted Lasso merchandise, and it’s all made to look like a legitimate team store for the fictional AFC Richmond.

The producers of the show did a pretty great job designing everything about AFC Richmond—they chose a generic English football-sounding name, created a badge with an unintimidating symbol, and made legitimate jerseys (called “kits” across the pond) for the team’s players.

To continue that immersive experience, the Warner Bros. store is selling AFC Richmond apparel as if the team was real (and some fans might even think it is, based on this): sweatshirts, T-shirts and even jerseys complete with the team’s players’ names.

For $69.99, that personalized jersey is a pretty sweet deal. A personalized jersey for a real Premier League team made by Nike or Adidas runs in the $100 range—sometimes even higher.

In addition to the Richmond-specific merchandise, there are plenty of items that play off of moments in the show, like a shirt commemorating the “Biscuits with the Boss” tradition Lasso starts, or a shirt with the advice to “be a goldfish.”

Streaming services are amping up their merchandising game as they take over the traditional television landscape. Recently, Netflix launched a new online store featuring limited-edition merchandise lines for its shows, many as collaborations with designers.

This Ted Lasso merchandise store uses the tactic of world building by making AFC Richmond into a real team, whether they actually play in the English football pyramid in real life or not. It doesn’t even need to say “Ted Lasso” on it. If you see the little dog badge and the colors, you know the wearer is a fan of the show.

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