Ted Lasso’s third season drives $23.2 million of sponsorship value for Nike

The third and final season of the Apple TV+ football-themed Ted Lasso has generated $23.2 million in U.S. and U.K. net sponsorship value just a month following its release, according to research from YouGov.

The latest season of the comedy drama, about a fictional U.K. football club managed by an American coach, has garnered 172 million views since its release a month ago, according to YouGov's analysis, driving a total net sponsorship value of $59.7 million for all brands on the show, with $40.7 million attributed to team clothing.

Nike's value is based on factors such as clothing, including player tracksuits and Lasso's jumper ($17.5 million), with a further $3.4 million derived from AFC Richmond kit.

YouGov's methodology uses a model that evaluates the "quality of the exposure in the show's footage, which is then combined with market advertising rates and audiences to create a net sponsorship value". Image recognition software is deployed across each episode to record every instance of brand exposure. That data is fed into YouGov's sports sponsorship model and the results, audience numbers and markets' ad rates are used to calculate the value.

While Nike enjoyed real-life sponsorship value, the other two "sponsors" were the show's fictional brands AFC Richmond (the team at the centre of the show) and Bantr, a dating app (that has since been brought into reality through a partnership between Apple TV+ and Bumble). YouGov's analysis claims AFC Richmond's brand presence in the show would be worth $27 million and Bantr's $9 million.

YouGov said it has models for both sports sponsorship and product placement. The Ted Lasso exposure was analysed using the former. Five factors were taken into account: size of branding and its location on screen, duration, number of instances and whether the brand appeared in isolation.

Here is a full breakdown of Nike's value across all assets:

• Team clothing: $17,571,506
• Player clothing: $3,481,396
• Interview board: $1,548,65
• Spectator clothing: $363,645
• Training pitch: $89,747
• Equipment: $59,949
• LED board: $42,593
• Grandstand: $33,296
• Ball: $22,226
• Changing room: $6,094
• Match ball plinth: $5,659
• Bottle: $1,769

Dominic Prince, product lead at YouGov, said: "Through gathering zero-party data shared with us by our panellists, YouGov Stream allows us to accurately predict audiences for titles on streaming platforms.

"For example, the finale of Ted Lasso has already been seen more than 14.5 million times across the U.S. and U.K. alone, despite it being just 28 days since its release."

Joshua Marcus, commercial director at YouGov Sport, said that "to date, rights holders and sponsor brands have been faced with something of a blind spot when valuing docuseries and other SVOD content".

He added: "With the advent of YouGov Stream, we're now able to integrate robust streaming audiences and ensure this value isn't being left on the table. The data we're releasing today shows the significant value this type of content provides and can supplement more traditional means of sponsorship activation."

Apple and EA Sports’ "Fifa 23 x Ted Lasso" won the Grand Prix for brand experience and activation at Cannes Lions last week, and the show's #ToastMe campaign won at last year's Campaign US Big Awards.

Monetary figures converted from GBP to USD based on 6/28/2023 exchange rate.