The RoundHouse | 8/13/2020 5:30:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
When Jason Sudeikis thought about football in Kansas, he naturally turned to Wichita State University.
 
That's Rose Bowl champion Wichita State – according to Sudeikis, the comedian/actor/writer with Kansas roots and a love of sports. (Checking notes – that makes Wichita State the state's one and only winner of one of college football's most prestigious bowl games.)
 
Not only did he bring back Shocker football – for a TV show – he made the team big winners – for a TV show – and is happy to give a university in his home state a role in the new show.
 
The Apple TV+ series "Ted Lasso,"  begins streaming Friday (Aug. 14) with Sudeikis starring as the title character. Lasso is a college football coach who moves to coach fictional British soccer club AFC Richmond in the Premier League.
 
It is a fish-out-of-water comedy with Lasso as the earnest, slightly befuddled, American who is confused about soccer rules, tie matches, the United Kingdom and driving in England. 

 

 
He is not confused about Shocker football. He is shown wearing a Shocker logo in the first episode and highlights show him dancing with the football team. 
 
"We got to use the logo and everything and I like the fact that they don't have a football team — just like AFC Richmond is fake, too — which allows us to create this mythology for Ted," Sudeikis told The Kansas City Star. 
 
Sudeikis is from Kansas, which explains his choice of Wichita State for the show. In real life, Wichita State dropped football after the 1986 season. 
 
He told The Star he didn't know that the school no longer plays football. 
 
"They do now and they went undefeated last year," Sudeikis said. "They won the Rose Bowl in 2019. So, if that gets on their Wikipedia page, then I think we've done something very important."

The show started its revival of Shocker football in August 2019, when Warner Bros., through a licensing partner, asked the athletic department for permission to use Shocker logos etc.
 
A month later, Wichita State granted permission to use its marks while preserving final approval on jerseys, shirts, etc. featuring the university.

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.