Ted Lasso: Why there likely won't be a season 4

Ted Lasso spoilers follow.

As the third season of Ted Lasso first started airing on Apple TV+, it was plagued with rumours this instalment could very well be the last with AFC Richmond's quirky but big-hearted players and executives.

In interviews ahead of the premiere, star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis was reluctant to say one way or another whether the third would be the last season, but said the creative team behind the Emmy-winning comedy had long planned as much.

"This is the end of this story that we wanted to tell, that we were hoping to tell, that we loved to tell," Sudeikis told Deadline. "The fact that folks will want more and are curious beyond more – it’s flattering."

Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard, later confirmed to Digital Spy that the cast and crew of Ted Lasso will certainly be taking a break following its third season.

"Well, that remains to be seen," Hunt said, when asked whether season three is the end of Ted and AFC Richmond's story.

"But we definitely saw it as a three-part story and this will be the end of that story. And we treated it as such. Does that mean it's the end of the series? Not necessarily.

"But at the very least after season three, we're going to take a break, get away from each other's pretty faces for a while, of which we are so tired. And then after that, everything's on the table."

While the creators have appeared keen to leave the door open to another iteration of the show in the future, the season finale seemed to do the opposite, because one thing it certainly felt was final.

Ending with a montage that showed everything from Roy Kent being christened the new manager of AFC Richmond to Coach Bear marrying Jane against a slightly ridiculous CGI Stonehenge backdrop, the show appears to have come to an end without ever saying so for sure.

After bidding a teary farewell to Ted at the airport – which if anything should be evidence enough this is the series finale, they were so upset – Rebecca has a chance run-in with that Amsterdam longboat stranger, who it turns out is a pilot.

Meanwhile, Ted flies home to be with his son, who he has been longing to return to since they first parted ways in the premiere episode of the season. We see him coaching little Henry from the sidelines – with frankly more verve than he often showed for the Richmond team.

When Ted turns to watch Henry dart across the pitch, the former Premier League coach turns to the camera with a face as pleased as punch. After battles with anxiety and depression, Ted at last appears to have found a semblance of peace.

But for Ted Lasso fans, this may not be the end forever. In that final montage, a few choice seeds are planted to suggest the show could live on in as a spin-off at some point.

One of the things we see is Keeley suggest to Rebecca that AFC Richmond launch a women's team and, given her grinning reaction, that looks like it's likely on the cards. So we could certainly see another iteration of the show to tell that story.

Given that Ted Lasso is Apple TV+'s biggest hit to date, a spin-off wouldn't be an incomprehensible next step for a story that seems to have nothing left to tell in its current form.

Sudeikis has even said he could see it. "I think that we've set the table for all sorts of folks…to get to watch the further telling of these stories," he told Deadline.

"Again, I can't help but take the question as flattery for what all of us that were working on the show has tried to do.

"It's really kind of folks to even consider that because you never know what's going to happen when you make things. The fact that people want more, even if it's a different avenue is lovely."

But for now at least, it looks like Ted Lasso's fate lies in that The Sound of Music performance the AFC Richmond team slightly inexplicably gave us in the finale, as they belted, "So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye".

Ted Lasso is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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