Ted Lasso season 2: release date, cast, trailer and latest news

The series has amassed a large and dedicated fanbase with its positive messages about life, but the upcoming second season won't be afraid to mix things up by delving into the topical issue of mental health.

“Mental health still has stigmas around it in this country [the USA], and even more so in England, and even more so in sports, so we take a little time to explore that, and where our characters are at with that,” co-star Brendan Hunt, better known as Coach Beard, told Deadline. “Now, I know that all sounds hilarious. But we’ll still get our yuks in.”

Previously, it had been announced that I May Destroy You star Sarah Niles would be joining the Ted Lasso cast as sports psychologist Sharon, who could very well play a key role in this new focus.

Here’s everything we know so far about Ted Lasso season two on Apple TV+.

Ted Lasso season 2 release date

CONFIRMED: Ted Lasso season two will be released exclusively on Apple TV+ on Friday 23rd July. There are 12 episodes in the season, but the show will premiere with two episodes, followed by one new weekly episode each Friday.

Season two comes less than a year after the first episodes dropped back in August 2020 – which is particularly impressive given that the pandemic has caused many films and television shows to be substantially delayed.

Co-creator Brendan Hunt revealed that filming on Ted Lasso wrapped at the start of June 2021, suggesting a quick turnaround from the editing team to get the show ready to stream in about six weeks.

Ted Lasso has already been renewed for a third season, but co-creators Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt warn the show may end there as it marks the end of the story they have mapped out together.

However, producing partner Bill Lawrence has been less firm about the prospect of an early conclusion for the show, telling Entertainment Weekly that he's "hopeful" the show will continue further – perhaps seeing Lasso return to the United States.

In July 2021, he addressed the subject again in a post-Emmy nominations interview with Deadline, stating the priority is for the show to go out on a "high note".

“This story [we’ve already mapped out], I know has a beginning, middle and an end, and will end the third year,” said Lawrence. “I think there’s other stories to tell about Ted Lasso and the gang, and we’ll see. I think either way, it’ll be important to Jason and all of us to try and go out on a high note.”

Ted Lasso season 2 cast

The cast of Ted Lasso is led by Jason Sudeikis in the title role, a well-known face in American comedy from his previous performances on Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and Horrible Bosses.

Co-creator Brendan Hunt also has an on-screen role, playing the philosophical and authoritative Coach Beard, a longtime friend of Lasso's who accompanies him on his journey across the pond.

Hannah Waddingham (Game of Thrones) plays Richmond FC's owner and attempted saboteur Rebecca Welton, who is initially looking to derail the club's prospects to spite her scoundrel ex-husband, Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head).

In season two, she has been won around to Ted's managing methods and wishes to see the club succeed once more, although her love life remains a bit of a mess.

"She’s very much the head of the team, and for the first time ever, loving it," Waddingham told Deadline. "She loves her boys, and she is totally behind Ted, but the other side of that is her chewing up her phone on these dating apps and not having a f***ing clue what she’s doing.

"I love the juxtaposition of that, that she is absolutely the figurehead of that team, but in every other way, when she’s just at home, she’s floundering around like a teenager."

Richmond FC's promising, but dysfunctional, squad includes Phil Dunster (The Trouble with Maggie Cole) as arrogant prodigy Jamie Tartt, Brett Goldstein (Derek) as spiky veteran player Roy Kent and Toheeb Jimoh (Anthony) as Nigerian rising star Sam Obisanya.

The Ted Lasso cast also includes Juno Temple (Little Birds) as feisty model Keeley, Nick Mohammed (Intelligence) as timid assistant coach Nathan, and Jeremy Swift (Downton Abbey) as Rebecca's underling Leslie Higgins.

Joining the cast for season two is I May Destroy You's Sarah Niles, who according to Deadline will play Sharon, a sports psychologist who starts working with AFC Richmond.

What is Ted Lasso about?

The series follows the efforts of clueless American football coach Ted Lasso as he leads “unlucky” fictional English team AFC Richmond, based in West London.

The small-time coach from Kansas is mocked at press conferences for his limited understanding of the game and occasionally baffles his new colleagues with his incredibly optimistic view on life.

Lasso also spends much of season one unaware that he was hired in a malicious attempt by divorcee and club owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) to sabotage the team her ex-husband loves, running Richmond FC into the ground as revenge on Rupert (Anthony Head).

Ultimately, Lasso was able to get Welton back on the team by the season one finale and she clearly wasn't the only person won over by his rose-tinted view of the world as the show has earned a large fanbase.

Over the course of the series, we saw some major relationship changes between the characters, as Keeley found the petulant behaviour of up and comer Jamie Tartt increasingly difficult to deal with.

She broke out on her own to great success, securing a job as a branding specialist for Richmond FC, forming a friendship with club owner Rebecca and a more mature love interest in long-serving footballer, Roy.

How many seasons of Ted Lasso will there be?

Despite strong praise and even a Golden Globe win for Sudeikis, the team behind Ted Lasso are seemingly sticking to their original plan of ending the series after its third season.

"The story that I know is the one that I wanted to tell, and so that's the one we're telling with the help of numerous people in front of and behind the camera, so it's by no means me typing every key stroke and saying every word. It's nowhere near like that," Sudeikis explained to Entertainment Weekly.

"But the story that's being told - that three-season arc - is one that I see, know, and understood. I'm glad that they are willing to pay for those three seasons. As far as what happens after that, who knows? I don't know."

• For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.

Ted Lasso's NBC Sports link explained

Ted Lasso started life as an NBC Sports promo, originally created to drum up excitement when the channel secured the rights to broadcast the Premier League in the US.

Ted Lasso, an American football coach who believes football is a game played in “four quarters”, somehow found himself coaching English team Tottenham Hotspur – much to the horror of British football fans.

The two 'Coach Lasso' promos went viral (racking up a total of over 20 million views on YouTube) and, seven years on, they were turned into a hit 10-part series, released on Apple TV+ last year.

Ted Lasso season 2 trailer

In April 2021, Apple TV+ released a first-look trailer at Ted Lasso season two, in which the Richmond FC coach appears unperturbed by his team’s lack of success and ever-jovial in the face of press scorn. Watch below.

In June 2021, fans got another look at Ted Lasso season two in this full-length trailer:

Ted Lasso season two premieres on Friday 23rd July exclusively on Apple TV+. While you're waiting, take a look at our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.