The Ted Lasso phenomenon has been nothing short of incredible, with Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and a host of other talented actors bringing AFC Richmond to life on the small screen.
Broadcast on Apple TV, the cultural significance of the comedy-drama has been far-reaching, with football fans even buying the merchandise of the fictional team (kits are now produced by Nike), while a partnership with EA Sports was announced ahead of the launch of FIFA 23, which saw the team added to the video game as a playable club.
A recent Football Manager game had a nod to the programme, with the subtle inclusion of Ted Lasso's iconic 'Believe' poster hanging on the wall of a background screen. However, there is no option to play as or against AFC Richmond in Football Manager 23 just yet.
Nevertheless, Sports Interactive studio director Miles Jacobson is very much interested in potentially collaborating with the brains behind the programme, similar to how they did in the past with the inclusion of Harchester United from the Sky One sports drama 'Dream Team'.
"We would love to do it and we're completely open to it," said Jacobson. "We actually had Harchester United in the game back in the day, but we've got a few modes in the game now that it could definitely work in.
"So, I would love to have a challenge mode of keeping AFC Richmond in the Premier League, but I don't know what the storyline is for series three!"
Football Manager has been collaborating with Apple for a number of years with its FM Mobile game on iOS and those links have strengthened, with FM23 Touch on Apple Arcade.
And the possibility of exploring future avenues with AFC Richmond and Ted Lasso is something that is very much to the fore of the developers' minds.
"But yeah, the relationship with Apple is not going to be a short-term one," continued Jacobson.
"It hasn't been - it's been a long-time partnership of Football Manager Mobile. We're all pretty determined for it to be a long-term relationship with Apple Arcade, so there's a long way to go.
"I'm completely open to the idea, I'd love to have [AFC Richmond]. I'd probably manage them in a game myself... but then they'd have to sack Ted! Maybe Ted could be my assistant and Coach Beard is still there as a coach... we'll work something out so that Ted can still be involved."
Football Manager 2023 was launched worldwide on November 8, 2022. It can be purchased online via Steam or at most video game retailers. FM23 Touch is available to play on Apple Arcade across devices including the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.
Miles Jacobson was speaking on the set of Ted Lasso at an event celebrating the launch of Football Manager 2023 Touch on Apple Arcade.
