‘Ted Lasso’ drives 5,000% jump in searches for Kansas City’s Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
By Nick Sloan
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — Kansas City has played a starring role in the return of “Ted Lasso,” but one local landmark featured in the show is already seeing the impact beyond the screen.
The Season 4 premiere took viewers across the Kansas City metro, highlighting familiar locations including the Country Club Plaza, CPKC Stadium and spots in Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit.
But the episode also spent time inside the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, using the Kansas City institution to introduce viewers around the world to the history of the Negro Leagues and one of baseball’s most legendary pitchers, Leroy “Satchel” Paige.
Nearly two weeks after the episode debuted, museum President Bob Kendrick said the response has been noticeable.
“We have just been flooded with folks, local folks who are fans of Lasso, who saw the museum featured in the show, and that prompted them to come and visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum,” Kendrick told KMBC photojournalist Eddy Lozano.
The interest isn’t limited to people walking through the museum’s doors.
Google Search trends indicate searches related to Paige and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum have increased by more than 5,000% compared with the same period last year.
For Kendrick, it demonstrates both the enormous reach of “Ted Lasso” and what can happen when Kansas City’s history is introduced to an audience that may have never encountered it before.
“Whatever it takes,” Kendrick said of bringing new visitors to the museum. “But it also speaks to how big that show is.”
Kendrick credited “Ted Lasso” star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis, a Kansas City-area native, with giving the museum and its history special attention in the episode.
Kendrick was there when the scenes were filmed nearly a year ago, but he said seeing the finished product still caught him by surprise.
“When I saw it in the show, it was a little emotional for me as well,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick credited the episode for capturing the feeling the museum represents while introducing a new generation and audience to Paige.
Paige was one of the most celebrated players in the Negro League’s history and lived in Kansas City.
“The thought, the care, the concern that he gave this piece of history. I thought it came out beautifully,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick believes another wave of fans could come through following the Kansas City metro fans who stopped by after watching the show.
“I think not only will we see more local folks come, we will see people from internationally who will now plan a visit because they saw the museum in Ted Lasso,” Kendrick said.
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