Will the next sports romance sensation come from TikTok? The Chicago Cubs are looking to hit a home run with an upcoming microdrama series titled Nine Innings To Love.
Set in the bleachers at Wrigley Field, Nine Innings To Love tells the story of a meet-cute between Ava (Veronica Garrubbo) and David (Sid Kutikkad). The 17-episode series spans the course of a single game, with Ava and David turning The Friendly Confines into a “rom-com training ground,” according to a press release.
The Cubs will distribute Nine Innings To Love through the team’s official TikTok account. The first installment arrives on September 4.
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@cubs For those who believe in a good love story. Nine Innings to Love: A 17-part vertical series, coming to your FYP this Friday. #booktok #romance #verticals #chicago #9ITL ♬ original sound – Cubs
Nine Innings To Love sits at the intersection of two entertainment trends. The ongoing sports romance boom is more than just Heated Rivalry — on Tubi, for example, the Noah Beck-led franchise Sidelined has produced the platform’s most-watched originals.
The Cubs are using that premise as their avenue into the potentially lucrative microdrama format. The in-house Cubs Productions unit created Nine Innings To Love, with Adam Sobel directing and Coyote Sun Productions providing production support for the series.
“The inspiration for Nine Innings to Love came from a simple truth about the Wrigley Field Budweiser Bleachers: with general admission seating, you never know who might end up beside you,” Sobel said in a statement. “That felt like the perfect starting point for a love story.”
The Nine Innings To Love trailer contains enough on-the-nose #BookTok references to draw plenty of snark online, but the Cubs might be onto something with their TikTok microdrama. Between their schedule release videos and championship celebrations, pro sports teams’ social media accounts have strung together hit after hit. Nine Innings To Love may look cheesy, but it could also become Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s answer to Rookie of the Year.
