The Chicago Cubs Made a 17-Part TikTok Romance at Wrigley Field
Updated: Oct 9
A baseball game lasts nine innings. The Chicago Cubs turned one into a 17-part romance calledNine Innings to Love, released on the team's TikTok account. The official series page follows Ava, an aspiring romance writer in a slump, and David, a shy seatmate, as they meet at Wrigley Field.
This is a clever setting for a serial. The game supplies a clock without the writer having to invent one. Each inning changes what the characters can risk before the crowd goes home. The audience already knows that, however long the flirtation lasts, the two cannot keep sitting next to each other forever.
A brand story with an actual plot
Sports marketing usually asks fans to remember the team. This project asks them to follow two people. The Cubs get Wrigley Field, the atmosphere of a game, and the emotional association of falling in love there. The romance gets a place millions of viewers recognize without spending its opening episodes explaining where it is.
Ava's stalled writing career is another useful detail. She is looking for a story while already inside one. The device could be unbearably cute if the drama has no friction, but it gives her a reason to observe David and resist the possibility that something is happening to her.
What brands may learn from it
The episodes are available on a social platform rather than behind a dedicated microdrama app. That changes the bargain with viewers: they can stumble into episode three while scrolling, so every segment has to be understandable enough to spark curiosity without recapping the whole relationship.
The Cubs have listed all 17 episodes on their official page. That makes the project a useful case study for writers working with brands: the sponsor is the world of the story, not a product interrupted by one. Whether this produces more ticket sales is unknown; the narrative idea is visible on the page.
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It is not too late to enter vertical drama. Find more reporting and practical writing advice in myVertical Drama articles.
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Viola Musaraj is a writer, novelist, micro and vertical drama producer, and interactive narrative designer with more than 140 million reads worldwide.
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