The Chicago Cubs want you to get romantic about baseball.
Cubs Productions, the team’s in-house creative arm, developed a 17-part romantic comedy called “Nine Innings to Love.” The entire scripted series, told over the course of one Cubs game, drops this Friday, Sept. 4, only on TikTok.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Cubs said the series was inspired by the “very real phenomenon” of fans finding love in the ballpark’s bleachers. The team hopes the rom-com converts young people into baseball fans.
“‘Nine Innings to Love’ celebrates the magic of a summertime Cubs game through a bite-sized, episodic format that’s built for Gen Z and millennial audiences,” said Jen Martindale, Cubs vice president of marketing and communications, in the statement. “By blending a game of baseball with BookTok fandom and the vibes of a classic rom-com, we’ve created a story that could only unfold in the Budweiser Bleachers at Wrigley Field.”
The trailer premiered Monday morning on the team’s TikTok. Directed by Adam Sobel, the series follows Ava (Veronica Garrubbo), an aspiring romance writer who is “like, BookTok royalty,” but she’s in a slump, according to the trailer. Ava — at the Cubs game with a friend for a “girls’ day” — meets David (Sid Kutikkad), her seatmate in the bleachers who doesn’t “believe in romance.”
Ava decides to take it upon herself to be his “wingman” and “love coach” to find him a “summer fling” inside Wrigley before the game is over, according to the trailer.