Ted Lasso Season 5 Will Be A Totally Different Show, According To New Tease

Published Oct 3, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Arielle Port started as a TV producer, developing content for Netflix (Firefly Lane, Brazen) and Hallmark (The Santa Stakeout, A Christmas Treasure) before transitioning into entertainment journalism. Her love of story went from interest to lifelong passion while at The University of Pennsylvania, where she fell in with a student-run web series, Classless TV, and it was a gateway drug. Arielle Port has been a Writer for Screen Rant since August 2024. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and more importantly, her cat, Boseman.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Ted Lasso season 4, episode 9, "Mae Rides the Bus."

Ted Lasso season 4 has pivoted to focus exclusively on the women’s team. It’s a conscious decision not to show the men’s team, which has left Roy Kent, now the head coach for the Greyhounds, in a liminal position outside his relationship with Keeley. However, it has given the proper spotlight to the new Lady Greyhound characters.

Ted himself hasn’t quite found his rhythm with the Lady Greyhounds, often deferring to Beard, new assistant coach Alice Chilton, or even the players themselves. Ted was never the most technically knowledgeable, but he doesn’t have the same inspiring quality with the women he had with the men.

Ted Lasso season 4 is foreshadowing that Alice Chilton will become the head coach the Lady Greyhounds deserve, as someone who understands their unique struggles as female athletes. However, Ted stepping into an assistant coaching role doesn’t sit quite right. As much as he insists it’s the Richmond Way, not the Lasso Way, he is the show’s marquee name.

However, Mae’s unexpected passing in Ted Lasso season 4’s penultimate episode sets up a fascinating new direction for Ted. This Reddit theory suggests a surprising route: that Alice will step into Ted’s shoes, and Ted will take over Mae’s pub, the Crown & Anchor.

Ted Lasso Is Foreshadowing Ted Taking Over Mae’s Pub

Ted Lasso has already been quietly setting up a future for Ted that has little to do with coaching. He started season 4 working as an assistant manager at a grocery store, a job that put him back into a more ordinary, community-facing environment. Meanwhile, Mae has increasingly taken his son under her wing, watching him when Ted can’t. She has even quite literally shown Ted how the sausage is made, giving him a glimpse into what it takes to run the pub.

Ted has lived above the Crown & Anchor for all four seasons. The pub has been one of the most consistent settings outside the Richmond clubhouse itself for Ted and the team.

Bartending would actually suit Ted. Bartenders spend their days listening to people talk about their problems, offering an encouraging word or some advice when needed. That is essentially Ted’s coaching philosophy applied outside of soccer.

Taking over the Crown & Anchor could also give Ted more control over his schedule, allowing him to be present for more of his son Henry and attend more of his soccer games. That has become a sore spot in season 4, making the pub a surprisingly fitting next chapter for Ted, keeping him involved with Richmond in a more informal capacity.

Ted Taking Over The Pub Would Naturally Make The Show More Like Cheers

Image via MovieStillsDB

Ted taking over the Crown & Anchor would continue the trend of Ted Lasso becoming more and more of an ensemble comedy. With the pub becoming a larger part of Ted’s life, Ted Lasso season 5 could spend even more time with its regulars, creating a setting where everyone knows your name, even if they still think that name is Wanker.

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The Crown & Anchor has always been one of Richmond’s social hubs, and putting Ted behind the bar would give the show a natural reason to expand that world. It would also allow Ted to remain at the center of the series even if he steps away from coaching.

Ted has struggled to find his groove with the Lady Greyhounds throughout season 4, to the point that he still doesn’t know the twins’ names. His strengths have always been less about soccer brilliance and more about making people feel heard, supported, and valued.

If Ted isn’t serving the Lady Greyhounds particularly well as their coach, perhaps the service industry is where those qualities are better suited. In that role, Ted could become a different kind of community figure, serving the team, its fans, his family, and Richmond itself, blending the worlds of Ted Lasso and Cheers.

Credit: MovieStillsDB

Cheers provides a useful blueprint for how Ted Lasso could change its formula without abandoning what made the series work. The iconic '80s sitcom was initially built around the will-they, won’t-they relationship between Sam Malone and Diane Chambers, but Diane abruptly left after Cheers season 5.

Rather than ending the show’s central appeal, Cheers shifted further toward its ensemble, giving more attention to its supporting characters. It also introduced memorable new additions, including Rebecca Howe and Woody Boyd, played by Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson.

Cheers remained hugely popular after the change and ultimately ran for several more seasons, eventually spinning off into Frasier, proving that a sitcom can survive the departure or transformation of one of its defining dynamics. Ted Lasso could follow a similar path by moving away from soccer without necessarily losing its identity.

In fact, Ted stepping away from coaching could reinforce one of the central ideas of season 4: It was never really about the Ted Lasso Way. It was always about the Richmond Way.

Ted Lasso's season 4 finale, "Being Alive," will stream on Apple TV October 7, 2026.

Ted helped build a community that could continue without him being at the center of the soccer team, and the show has increasingly demonstrated that Richmond itself is the larger story. That would make season 5 different, but different is not inherently a bad thing for Ted Lasso.