Ted Lasso fans flock to Richmond, boosting local tourism

The Crown & Anchor pub exterior in Ted Lasso was filmed at The Prince’s Head in Richmond-upon-Thames. Richmond-upon-Thames was already on the visitor map before Ted Lasso arrived, with historic streets, riverside walks, parks, independent shops, and restaurants drawing steady footfall. The show gave that familiar place a new identity, and VisitRichmond, the borough’s official tourism board, has leaned into the attention while the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames says visitors make a “crucial contribution” to the local economy.

Why Richmond became a screen-tourism magnet

Richmond’s appeal works on two levels at once: it is a real place with a long tourism history, and it is now a recognizable screen setting. The borough has long attracted film location scouts. Ted Lasso brought Richmond back to the screen, and supervising location manager Nick Marshall discussed his work on the series with FilmRichmond in a Production Guild feature while Film London has highlighted the show’s role in that return.

Richmond already had the ingredients that make a film setting easy to sell: the riverside, Richmond Hill, quiet lanes like Paved Court, and shopping streets such as George Street. Ted Lasso gave those places a transatlantic storyline, and by 2023 Richmond was drawing “droves of American fans.”

The show’s footprint on the ground

The Ted Lasso trail concentrates visitors around a compact set of locations, which is part of its appeal and part of its limitation. The borough is being marketed as a ready-made pilgrimage route: VisitBritain has a dedicated page for Ted Lasso filming locations in Britain, while VisitRichmond maintains its own Ted Lasso page for Richmond-upon-Thames.

In practical terms, the walk tends to center on Richmond Green, George Street, Paved Court, Richmond Hill, and the riverfront. Fans also look for the bench and neighborhood scenes that have become shorthand for the series. The geography is compact enough for a self-guided outing, which helps the area absorb demand without requiring a formal tour operator.

Local promotion has encouraged that self-guided format. Council-linked tourism channels have pushed a Ted Lasso campaign aimed at fans, alongside self-guided tour messaging and social posts that direct visitors toward filming locations and independent shops. The marketing is not subtle: it turns a TV reference into a route that links spectacle, shopping, and lunch stops.

What the economics actually suggest

The clearest economic effect is not a giant new industry but a shift in where and why people spend money. Visitors who arrive because of Ted Lasso are being steered toward existing businesses on or near the film trail, especially cafés, pubs, and independent retailers in the most walkable parts of Richmond. For a borough that already depends on tourism, that can mean more midday trade, more weekend traffic, and a stronger case for keeping the town center oriented toward pedestrians.

But the benefits are uneven by design. A film-led campaign tends to reward the few streets and venues that appear on screen, while other parts of the borough may see little direct spillover.

Richmond’s official messaging acknowledges the economic value of visitors, yet the available promotion is strongest on atmosphere and place branding, not on hard numbers showing how much Ted Lasso has changed household incomes, business survival rates, or retail rents.

How to visit without missing the bigger picture

A good Richmond visit does not stop at the show’s backdrops. The town’s strength is that the fictional map overlays a very real one: riverside paths, historic streets, parks, and a restaurant and retail scene that long predates the series. If you go, the most efficient route is to treat Ted Lasso as an entry point rather than the whole experience.

• Start at Richmond Green, where the show’s geography becomes immediately recognizable. • Walk toward George Street to see how the film trail merges with ordinary commerce. • Turn into Paved Court to reach the doorway associated with Ted’s flat. • Continue to Richmond Hill or the riverside for the wider landscape that made the borough attractive long before the series. • Leave time for the independent shops and pubs that the tourism campaign explicitly promotes.