The Best American Sports Series Of All Time Has Nothing To Do With American Sports

3 days ago 10

Cristo Fernández‘s Dani Rojas celebrating on a soccer field in Apple TV’s Ted Lasso

Published Jul 26, 2026, 7:45 PM EDT

Dhruv is a Lead Writer in Screen Rant's New TV division. He has been consistently contributing to the website for over two years and has written thousands of articles covering streaming trends, movie/TV analysis, and pop culture breakdowns.
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After high school, he was on his way to become a Civil Engineer. However, he soon realized that writing was his true calling. As a result, he took a leap and never looked back.

The greatest American sports drama of all time is on Apple TV, and it surprisingly has little to do with American sports. Despite this, the show in question, Ted Lasso, has all the emotional highs and lows that define the very best entries in the genre. It proves that a sports drama's true appeal comes less from its choice of sport and more from how it captures everything from underdog triumphs to the spirit of competition.

Developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly, Apple TV's Ted Lasso centers on a titular character played by Jason Sudeikis who gets hired to coach an English soccer team. The team's coach secretly hopes that Lasso's leadership will lead to the team's downfall. However, Lasso's optimism works wonders for the team and paves the way for them to achieve monumental feats.

In its impressive three-season run so far, Ted Lasso has hardly shown any signs of slowing down. The series has consistently impressed viewers and critics and proven that, as an American sports drama, it does not have to necessarily focus on mainstream American sports like baseball and football.

Given how Ted Lasso is all set to return soon with season 4, it will be interesting how it will progress and retain its place as the best sports TV show of all time.

Why Ted Lasso Is The Best Sports TV Series Of All Time

Jason Sudeikis as Coach Lasso in the locker room in Ted Lasso season 1

Compared to some of the grittier and more serious sports dramas like Friday Night Lights and Winning Time, Ted Lasso almost comes off as a workplace comedy rather than a sports-centric series. Owing to this, some might argue that calling it the greatest sports TV series of all time might be a misnomer. However, it is the show's ability to stand out among the vast array of sports shows that makes it one of the best.

Instead of being solely driven by intense rivalries, motivational locker-room speeches, and win-at-all-costs mentalities, Ted Lasso uses emotional intelligence and psychological safety as narrative devices to highlight its titular character's biggest strengths as a coach. As the show progresses, it also introduces familiar sports media stereotypes before completely dismantling them.

For instance, Jamie Tartt starts out as an arrogant superstar before the show reveals his true spirit as a team player and his past struggles with abuse. Roy Kent, too, moves beyond his early terrifying and aging enforcer caricature to become a more vulnerable and thoughtful mentor.

While Ted Lasso's primary appeal comes from the feelings of positivity it instills in a viewer, the show also does not shy away from exploring more serious themes surrounding high-level athletic anxiety and mental health. All in all, Ted Lasso stands out as a distinct sports television drama because it perfectly uses its non-American sport as a device to highlight the human condition.

It lacks the action and scoreboard thrills of other mainstream sports shows like Friday Night Lights, but it more than makes up for it with its heartfelt storytelling.

Ted Lasso Season 4 Has A Tough Challenge After Season 3's Strong Ending

Ted Lasso pointing in Ted Lasso season 4

Ted Lasso season 3 felt like the natural conclusion to the original Apple TV show's overarching story. Before the show's final credits started rolling, Ted went back to Kansas to be with his son, Roy became manager of the men’s team, Nate completed his redemption arc, and Rebecca found peace with AFC Richmond.

Since Ted Lasso season 3 gave every main character a well-rounded closure towards the end, it is almost surprising that the show is returning for another season.

Instead of forcing a continuation of previous story threads, Ted Lasso's creators are cleverly starting a whole new journey for the titular character. This time around, he will not manage the men’s Premier League squad, but go back to launch the AFC Richmond women's team. Story reveals even suggest Ted Lasso season 4 might also focus more on the character's relationship with his son.

Ted Lasso season 4 premieres on August 5, 2026, on Apple TV.

As exciting as Ted Lasso's return may seem, however, the show risks undermining its own previous story beats by becoming too redundant. Some of the main cast members from previous seasons will also not be a part of season 4's story, which could cause more harm than good.

Hopefully, Ted Lasso season 4 will find creative ways to avoid feeling like a forced victory lap and prove that it deserves to exist as much as its predecessors.

What Ted Lasso Does Better Than Shows Focused On American Sports

Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent, Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, and Brendan Hunt as Coach Beard in Ted Lasso

Sports dramas are often appealing because of how they inspire viewers with their tales of underdog teams and their gradual rise to greatness. In most American sports TV shows, the central teams also do not always end up winning championships, but it is their pursuit for success against all odds that makes them incredibly rootable.

However, despite having these universal themes, most American sports dramas only seem to cater to a fixed set of viewers. They emphasize sports-insider politics, front-office schematics, and play-calling mechanics surrounding the sport they focus on. This often makes them spectacle heavy and narrows down their target audiences to those who are at least mildly familiar with their central sport.

Ted Lasso cleverly features a protagonist who knows little about soccer. This could have easily come off as a cheap fish-out-of-water gimmick, but the series brilliantly leverages this to ignore unnecessary sports-related jargon and focus heavily on team chemistry over strategy. As a result, the Apple TV show manages to appeal to even those who are not exactly interested in its central sport.

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