True story of how Ted Lasso was created in Amsterdam club TWO DECADES ago thanks to video game

In its three seasons on air, Ted Lasso has become a global comedy hit, delighting audiences the world over with its culture-blending take on the world of British football. 

But while the popular Apple TV+ series brings together actors and characters from both sides of the pond, it turns out the leading man of the series was actually dreamed up in a very different location: a small comedy club in Amsterdam. 

Tedd Lasso - which first premiered in August 2020, and recently released its third season - follows an American football coach, played by Jason, who is recruited to train a fictional English Premiere League soccer team.

But Ted has no prior experience in soccer, and his lack of knowledge regarding the sport - as well as his charming personality - leads to some pretty hilarious results.

It turns out, the concept of the show was created 20 years prior to its premiere, after Jason, now 47, was put into a similar situation - but instead of coaching a real-life soccer team, he was in charge of a virtual one.

The beloved comedy Ted Lasso was created in a tiny Amsterdam comedy club two decades ago - thanks to a video game and a push from Jason Sudeikis' ex Olivia Wilde

The Apple TV+ show follows an American football coach, played by Jason, who is recruited to train a fictional English Premiere League soccer team, despite knowing nothing about soccer

Back in 2001, Jason and co-creator Brendan Hunt (seen) were both performing at a improv comedy club in Amsterdam, called Boom Chicago, a twitter user named Joe Pompliano said

While living in the Netherlands city, Brendan became enthralled with European soccer, and he tried to share his newfound obsession with his pal Jason (pictured back row center)

Back in 2001, Jason and co-creator Brendan Hunt were both performing at a improv comedy club in Amsterdam, called Boom Chicago, where they formed a tight bond, a twitter user named Joe Pompliano said.

While living in the Netherlands city, Brendan became enthralled with European soccer, and he tried to share his newfound obsession with his pal Jason.

The only problem was, Jason knew nothing about the sport - so the two decided to start playing the popular video game FIFA together while Brendan attempted to teach the actor the rules of soccer.

Not only did his plan work - Jason learned everything he needed to know from the game - but their video game sessions also resulted in tons of laughs for the duo, and the idea for the premise of the show was soon hatched.

The Los Angeles Times reported that no American had ever managed a European soccer team before, and the two started thinking about how funny it might be if someone like Jason gave it a go in real life rather than in a video game. 

But their idea wouldn't actually come to life on the screen for many more years to come.

It wasn't until Jason was hired by NBC to play a soccer coach in a series of commercial for the Premiere League in 2013 that he and Brendan decided to turn their video game endeavors into a show.

After the success of the advertisements, Jason and Brendan, along with TV producer Joe Kelly, decided to write a script in which they took the character from the adverts and the idea they had years earlier and combined them to create the first season of Ted Lasso.

But Jason knew nothing about the sport - so the two decided to start playing the popular video game FIFA together while Brendan attempted to teach the actor the rules of soccer

Their video game sessions resulted in tons of laughs for the duo, and the idea for the premise of the show was soon hatched

But it wasn't until Jason was hired by NBC to play a soccer coach in a series of commercial for the Premiere League in 2013 (seen) that he and Brendan decided to turn it into a show

They soon started pitching the idea to a series of networks, and it ultimately caught the attention of Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, who signed on as producer.

But it wasn't easy for them to find someone who wanted to back the show. And according to Brendan, it was Jason's then-girlfriend Olivia who gave them the 'push' to not give up on it.

'Olivia, even when we were just writing years ago without any buyers or even pitching it yet, gave it a big push,' he told the LA Times. 

'Olivia was like, "Jason, you are doing this show. You’re going to London, you’re going to make this with your friends, and that’s all there is to it."'

As for what convinced Bill to hop on board, he said it was Jason who really 'sold it' to him.

'The only reason that it took a while [to get picked up] was people always thought it was a super funny sketch, but they didn’t have the vision Jason had in his head of it being a show with a big heart,' he explained. 'But he sold me.'

Jason told CBS News that the main point he made to Bill during their many 'pitch meetings' was that the show was less about soccer, and more about Ted's journey.

After the success of the advertisements, Jason and Brendan, along with TV producer Joe Kelly (seen), decided to take the character from the adverts and combine it with the idea they had

They soon started pitching the idea to a series of networks, and it ultimately caught the attention of Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence (pictured), who signed on as producer

But it wasn't easy for them to find someone who wanted to back the show. And according to Brendan, it was Jason's then-girlfriend Olivia who gave them the 'push' to not give up on it

'The thing that I would say was like, "This show's as much about soccer as, like, Rocky is about boxing,"' he explained.

Jason is now reportedly paid $1 million per episode, but it's about much more than the money to him. 'The feeling at the end of the day of writing this guy or pretending to be this guy, it’s nice. He’s egoless,' he gushed of his character to LA Times

And Bill was adamant about making sure the show wasn't too heavily focused on sports.

Brendan added: 'Bill basically pounded the table and shouted at a very early writer's room session, "This is not a soccer show. This is a workplace ensemble comedy."

'That's kind of been a guiding principle, you know? It takes place in the soccer world, but it's not - it's never about the soccer at all.' 

The adored series has now captured the nation, becoming the most watched show on Apple TV+ and earning a whopping 40 Emmy Award nominations - 11 of which, it won.

Jason is now reportedly paid $1 million per episode, but it's about much more than the money to him. 

'The feeling at the end of the day of writing this guy or pretending to be this guy, it’s nice. He’s egoless,' he gushed of his character to LA Times.