The intersection of entertainment and sports is exactly what the series Ted Lasso does so well, and creating a fictional conversation between Coach Lasso and one of the greatest soccer coaches of all time, Jose Mourinho, was the dream scenario in order to produce really fun, breakout content to introduce Ted Lasso to the world.

To introduce this new coach, Ted Lasso, to the world, we wanted to pair him with a quintessential globally known futbol coach to provide some tips of the trade. The goal was to create a fun piece of content juxtaposing two very different styles and personalities as Ted Lasso brings a very unique perspective to the game, and mainly how funny it is that he knew nothing about the details of the world’s most popular sport. When Mourinho agreed to the shoot, everyone knew it was the perfect match, and Mourinho brought global appeal and awareness.

Futbol coaching Legend Jose Mourinho receives a call from rookie Futbol Coach Ted Lasso who’s looking for some desperately needed advice and insight as he starts his new role leading the AFC Richmond team, coaching a sport he knows nothing about. Like many successful professional sports coaches, Coach Mourinho (known widely as “The Special One”) is not one for jokes, but Ted’s natural kindness and humor even breaks down the hard exterior of Coach Mourinho. By the end of the call Mourinho is not only providing coaching tips, but genuinely wishing Coach Lasso “Good Luck” on the season to come.

With futbol in Europe resuming in August, we found the perfect moment to launch the show. Working with DAZN, the streaming home of European futbol, we created two films which premiered during their live and on-demand coverage of the UEFA Champions League final in Germany and Austria on August 23, 2020. The strategy was to include a bespoke creative video in the halftime airing of the Champions League finale to capture millions of futbol fans waiting for the second half of the game. We wanted to make them laugh while seeing a world famous futbol coach like Jose Mourinho give signature advice to a novice, and very American, futbol coach. Additionally, the strategy was to push this content out globally after the airing with the DAZN partnership in the Champions League finale.

Production was done on two separate days, weeks and continents apart. First, Jason shot his portion of call as Ted then, two weeks later Coach Mourinho shot his portion. There was 4 days of editorial between wrapping Coach Mourinho and delivery of the final spots as they went live online during the live broadcast of the Premier League Championship match.

The partnership unlocked a reach of 6.4 million through DAZN directly and a 36.5 million potential reach through the amplification of its partners. It was a great success on a global scale. Additionally, a few months later, in an actual press conference Coach Mourinho referenced telling Ted Lasso his signature line that he prefers not to speak. It was art intersecting perfectly in real life.