Ted Lasso returns for a fourth season today, August 5, 2026, on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday — and the story of how it came back is nearly as winding as Ted's own journey.

Brendan Hunt, who co-created the show, writes for it, and plays Coach Beard, says he initially thought Ted Lasso was finished after Season 3. The Season 3 finale, widely treated as a series ender, saw Ted (Jason Sudeikis) head home to Kansas City. But the finale also planted a seed: AFC Richmond owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) and her friend Keeley (Juno Temple) floated the idea of adding a women's team to the club. Variety

Hunt says the writers left that thread deliberately. "A breadcrumb in case they wanted to return," as he put it to Variety. The breadcrumb sat there while Sudeikis quietly weighed a comeback, sending what Hunt called a "baby-step text message of intrigue" roughly every three months. Hunt says he never pushed him on it. Variety

Two sparks helped move things along. The England women's national football team — the Lionesses — won the UEFA Women's Championship in 2022 while Season 3 was filming, and Hunt says their victory inspired the revival. Closer to home, Sudeikis held season tickets to the WNBA's New York Liberty and walked to their games, something Hunt said helped the idea come together. Variety

The Hollywood Reporter reported that Sudeikis had an epiphany tied to the women's-team idea teased in the finale, which pushed the revival from "maybe someday" into motion. The Hollywood Reporter

Figuring out how to bring Ted back took real work. The writers — Sudeikis, Hunt, Brett Goldstein (who plays Roy Kent, now Richmond's coach), and new executive producer Jack Burditt — rented a house in Ojai, California for a writing retreat. One idea on the table: having Rebecca buy Los Angeles' Angel City FC, a real women's soccer club. The team ultimately decided AFC Richmond and London were critical to the show's identity. Variety

The cast came together as well. Hunt says Waddingham and Goldstein were still under contract, and Temple was eager to return. Hunt and Jeremy Swift are confirmed back for Season 4, alongside Juno Temple and Phil Dunster. Variety The first episode premieres globally today, followed by weekly Wednesday releases. Apple TV+ Newsroom

For fans, the return means a show that said a careful goodbye is picking up the one loose end it chose to leave behind. Ted is back at Richmond, facing what Apple describes as his biggest challenge yet. A crew of writers, actors, and producers spent months in a rented house making sure the return made sense. Whether it does is for viewers to decide starting today.