A Look at the Rare 2014 Topps Card
Topps RIPPED is celebrating Saturday Night Live’s historic 50th season with multiple articles about the show’s biggest stars, best sketches, and connection with Topps and The Hobby
Today, Ted Lasso is no doubt Jason Sudeikis’ most well-known character. The surprise hit show, based on the character of the same name, flew out of the gates in its opening season on Apple TV, winning seven Emmys on the heels of an incredible 20 nominations. And while most fans of soccer and comedy are, today, very familiar with the show, many do not know how Ted Lasso all began, and how those humble beginnings brought Ted Lasso into the Topps Universe—creating a rare chase card that would have collectors hunting over a decade later.
2014 Topps NBCSN Ted Lasso RC
NBC acquired the rights to deliver American English Premier League (EPL) soccer coverage in 2013. Before NBC’s acquisition, Fox had taken a crack at the EPL with modest success. The execs at NBC knew that to justify the cost of the new rights, they had to find a way to expand their viewership beyond the numbers that Fox had generated. Jon Miller, NBC Sports president of acquisitions and partnerships, said, “We knew that it had a small but very loyal audience, but if we only get the regular fans of the Premier League, it’s not going to be as big as we need to make it.”
When possible ad campaigns were being discussed, the idea of a long-form comedy video was quickly settled on. After suggesting big soccer fan Seth Meyers (who worked at NBC on Saturday Night Live at the time), the network put forward his fellow SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis. Fascinatingly, Ted Lasso has his roots in the late-night comedy show. When perusing Sudeikis’ work, the advertising team stumbled across a sketch featuring the comedian as a college football coach with a southern drawl. This was the light-bulb moment that started it all. Ad creator Guy Barnett said, “I thought, well, he’s [Sudeikis] got this American coach character; what if we put him in charge of a football (soccer) team and see what happened? The coach became a vessel to explain soccer to Americans.”
While Sudeikis (and Lasso) were years from winning Emmys, the seed took root. But, for this promo campaign, the coach, who would eventually manage fictional soccer club AFC Richmond in the television series, needed a real EPL club to take over. After the league’s biggest institutions, like Manchester United, showed little interest, the advertising team reached out to Tottenham Hotspur, who jumped at the opportunity to help build their brand in a growing American market. Ted Lasso was born. Tottenham Executive Director Donna Marie-Cullen said, “It was exciting times. NBC were taking Premier League from behind the paywall. We knew we had an audience out there where nobody had yet selected their Premier League club. We went out there and presented ourselves as different, the new kid on the block.”
The early incarnation of the character featured a press conference (not entirely unlike the one in the show’s pilot episode) in which Lasso poked fun at the eccentricities of the English game while helping to educate a new(ish) viewer base. Barnett said, “Sudeikis was a tour de force of spontaneity.” The videos and promo content had the feel and style of SNL digital shorts and were a huge success. Marie-Cullen said, “Hugely popular, immediately went viral. It was all anybody in the football world was talking about.”
In August 2014, to help in these branding efforts, NBC teamed with Topps to create a series of promotional trading cards to place in “Season Starter Kits” and help highlight the on-air personalities of the network’s new EPL coverage – including Rebecca Lowe and the Robbies (Earle and Mustoe) who all remain pillars of the broadcast team. These cards were handed out in key markets, at bars, and at events, and they included one of Sudekis in character as Ted Lasso, with a whistle around his neck, and listed as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
As you might imagine, most of these cards were being handed out to prospective fans (often in the morning before and during EPL games) and not geared toward collectors. Most of the cards were thrown out. After all, who’s this Ted Lasso guy? The guy from the funny video? Little did anyone know, Lasso would play no small part in helping NBC establish itself as a major player in English soccer. The network still holds the EPL rights today and has massively expanded viewership over the last decade. While EPL games averaged just over 200,000 viewers before NBC took over, over two million Americans viewed last year’s Liverpool-Manchester City match.
Meanwhile, Sudeikis would go on to create the Emmy-winning comedy Ted Lasso, and the Topps promo cards would go from quaint afterthought to sought-after chase card. With very few of these cards still around, and a fraction in mint condition, the 2014 Topps Ted Lasso has become one of the most covetable, quirky soccer chase cards. So, if you were taking in an EPL game at your local ten years ago, check your closet, shoebox, wherever—maybe you’ll find one hanging around. You never know. To quote Ted Lasso, “I believe in hope. I believe in belief.” Happy hunting!
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