KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On the summer 2025 day “Ted Lasso” was being filmed at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, NLBM president Bob Kendrick enjoyed a prime view from a director’s chair.

He witnessed many scenes rehearsed and acted out in multiple takes. He bonded with cast and production crew — including while watching a good portion of the England-Spain women’s European Championship game across the hall in the American Jazz Museum.

And he appreciated the dignity and thoughtfulness being poured into the work led by Kansas Citian Jason Sudeikis and embraced by his group — many of whom swooned over KC and bought NLBM merchandise that day.

That apparent loving attention to detail was reaffirmed months ago when Kendrick was asked to approve clips for the first episode of season 4 of the mega-hit series, an installment that proved to be a valentine to Kansas City.

(The show also particularly highlighted Gates Bar-B-Q on Main Street, Country Club Plaza and CPKC Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League.)

For all that, though, Kendrick couldn’t know how emotional it would be to see it applied in the context of the full show when it premiered on Aug. 5.

In and of itself, seeing that in all its glory made him surge with pride. Most poignantly, he was struck by how far the late, great Buck O’Neil’s museum has come since its inception in a one-room office in 1990.

Perhaps he was most touched by the scene in which Jeremy Swift’s character, jazz aficionado Leslie Higgins, is having Satchel Paige’s legacy explained to him.

“ ‘In your terms,’ ” the tour guide tells him, “ ‘think Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Louis Armstrong all rolled into one.’ ”

Replies Higgins: “They’re immortal.”

Then came the immediate waves of text messages and phone calls. And then came the next day … and weekend … and the ever since … and maybe even the evermore Kendrick expects many more to plan trips to Kansas City just to see the museum now. Even from abroad.

(As a point of reference for the sprawling love for the show, during a Zoom group interview with the cast three years ago, questions were submitted from news outlets all over the world. Among them: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland.)

“As somebody who values public relations,” he said, smiling, “you understand that there was no way that the museum could afford to pay for that level of publicity.”

Launching what he believes will be a residual impact the museum will feel for years, the place was “flooded” in the ensuing days, Kendrick said, in part because of Chicago Cubs fans being in town.

More strikingly from people he spoke with at the museum in the immediate aftermath, though, it largely was because the show stirred many locals who had never been there before.

“It’s a classic example of the fact that most people know that it’s here, but they’ve not been moved enough to come down and experience it,” he said Tuesday in the lobby between the two museums in the 18th & Vine District. “And then, all of a sudden, you see it on your favorite TV show. And then that kind of prompts you to say, ‘You know what, we’re headed down there.’”

Just how many visitors above normal that’s meant wasn’t a number Kendrick knew just yet despite reports that business is up 5,000%.

“That didn’t come from us; I don’t even know what that means,” he said, smiling. “But I appreciate it.”

He also appreciates Sudeikis, whom he first met in 2022 when Kendrick was honored to flip the switch for the 93rd annual Plaza Lighting Ceremony.

With each wearing variations of KC Monarchs caps, they hit it off so fast and so well that Kendrick even broached the topic of another of his quests: to create a dramatic TV series based on the Negro Leagues. As he understands it, Sudeikis continues to have interest in that possibility.

In the meantime, though, he’s been rather consumed with “Ted Lasso” and paid homage through that lens.

When Kendrick texted the Shawnee Mission West grad in gratitude, Sudeikis sent back the following message:

“‘Good morning, Bob. Oh, man. So lovely to hear from you, and thank you for the kind words. It really means a lot. But, honestly, thank you so much for saying yes to us and our show, for your guidance and knowledge and trust.”

From where we sit, anyway, the only way the show might have been better would have been if Kendrick had been cast as himself.

Nothing against Milan Carter, who did a great job as “Charles” leading Higgins on the tour.

But Kendrick certainly had no gripes about it. And he smiled as he thought about some advice he’d once received from Ken Carter — the subject of the movie “Coach Carter.”

“ ‘You never play yourself,’ ” Kendrick recalled him saying. “ ‘You go find somebody younger and better looking to play you.’ ”

With a laugh, Kendrick added, “He was smart not to play himself: They go get Samuel Jackson, and it becomes a blockbuster film.”

Kendrick was offered a cameo role. But he figured it likely wasn’t even a speaking role and declined since he was encumbered by a knee brace.

Still, there was a certain synergy to the crossover between two such beloved institutions with fundamentally shared themes and messages that include hope and belief.

“It actually was a perfect fit for that show,” Kendrick said.

Never mind that that connection was somewhat news to Kendrick, who never had seen Lasso before they started filming but has begun catching up and is captivated.

“It is such a positive message, which in such a cynical world in which we live today, that is needed tenfold,” he said.

Sound familiar?

“As I’ve often-times said, I think people come to the museum expecting to be introduced to a sad, somber kind of story,” he said. “Because we know that this is anchored against the ugliness of American segregation, which was certainly a horrible chapter in this country’s history.

“But it’s kind of a unique twist. Because we treat it for exactly what it is: a celebration. … It is the celebration of the power of the human spirit to persevere and prevail.”

While the NLBM very much is a cultural and civil rights institution, Kendrick always wants that upbeat tone to be the takeaway.

“The story is so steeped in the American spirit that you leave cheering, and I think that’s what makes this place so unique,” he said. “And that’s where the parallels come from what Jason has done with Lasso.”

This unfathomable publicity comes at a fine time for Kendrick and the museum as they continue fundraising for what is now a $53 million campaign to build a new museum nearby with triple the space of the current 10,000-foot facility.

At this stage, anyway, just over $30 million is needed for construction. With what he called a “big boost” from the Royals recently committing $5 million, Kendrick believes they are closing in on the three-fourths of the construction cost they need to reach in order to break ground by early 2027.

“I hope that this (Royals’ pledge) now has a domino effect, because I suspect that the other MLB teams that we’ll be reaching out to wanted to see what the home team is going to do,” he said. “And so that benchmark has been set.”

Meanwhile, Sudeikis has conveyed to Kendrick that he wants to help any way he can with the new museum.

He’s done plenty already.

“This,” Kendrick said, “was real for him.”

Surreal as it might still seem to have had these two connect this way.

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