Ted Lasso Season 3 Is Reportedly in Trouble Due to Production Woes and Going Over Budget

Apple TV's Emmy-winning hit series Ted Lasso is reportedly facing some big troubles with production on Season 3. Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis just won another Emmy for playing Ted Lasso, but he ended his acceptance speech with the ominous words that when it comes to Ted Lasso "We'll see you for Season 3, at some point." Well, according to reports from Puck News, those words from Sudeikis were seriousness wrapped in jest, as there's allegedly a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding Ted Lasso Season 3's production. 

The third and final season of Ted Lasso has seen a major change in putting Jason Sudeikis in charge of the show, alongside show creators Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly. Sudeikis now stars, and co-writes Ted Lasso; after the cast reunited in London at the start of 2022, he reportedly pulled scripts for the final 12 episodes fo the series feeling they were not good enough. Rewrites pushed production back to March, and the production has been plagued with reported difficulties that include production stoppages and deadline failures; sudden re-writes and character arc changes; a sudden move to Amsterdam for a location shoot Sudeikis conceived; socio-political interruptions due to the War in Ukraine, and post-production challenges. 

Not surprisingly, all of those alleged issues have inevitably led to Ted Lasso Season 3's budget ballooning to a reported 20 to 30 percent over what it should've been. That's a price tag that's already climbing well beyond what Season 2 cost, which was already a major jump over the cost of Season 1. Ted Lasso Season 3 is now well past its supposed release date, and still isn't in the can. 

That uncertain situation has reportedly created an environment of competing interests instead of cooperative ones. Apple TV and Warner Bros. TV share production costs on Ted Lasso; Sudeikis and Bill Lawerence share participant profits on the show through Warner Bros. TV; the cast has contracts that lock them into the show tightly and have them caught between Apple and Warner Bros., and the question of whether Ted Lasso Season 4 will happen is still looming unanswered, as Sudeikis' participation is not guaranteed.

 That's a lot for any TV series to be juggling to begin with; how that situation will change after the higher costs and extensive delays of Ted Lasso Season 3. It's still uncertain how modern TV studios are measuring the value of IPs like Ted Lasso (viewership, social media buzz, awards acclaim); it's speculated that if Ted Lasso Season 3 can get on air before the May deadline for the Emmy's the resulting awards acclaim could be worth all the trouble – and maybe even convince the cast and crew to give it one more go. 

After the Emmys, Jason Sudeikis spoke about Ted Lasso Season 4: 

"I don't know, it's up to more factors than myself," Sudeikis said. "The response to the show has been overwhelming. We have a tremendous group of writers. We have a tremendous group of actors. We have a tremendous group of people in production and post-production. All of those things are thrown into the jambalaya of possibility. So I couldn't say yes or no. I do know that this part of the show is what it's supposed to be. And it will be everything it was fortunate to become, based on all those added developments. As far as Season 4, I apologize for not giving you a more direct answer because I understand that's helpful for headlines."

Ted Lasso Season 3 is in production.