A sapphic sports romance is making its way to television.
Cleat Cute, the queer soccer romance by Meryl Wilsner, is currently in development as a TV series at Amazon MGM Studios. The adaptation is reportedly titled Playing the Field and already has major names attached, including Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird as executive producers. While the longtime couple has since split, it’s still unclear whether that will have any impact on the project.
It’s still early. There’s no confirmed cast, no release date, and no production timeline yet. But the fact that a story like this is moving forward at all says something about where queer storytelling, and women’s sports, are right now.
What Cleat Cute Is About
Originally released to strong reader buzz, Cleat Cute follows a romance between two professional soccer players as they navigate their careers, public attention, and their growing relationship.
It’s a story that fully leans into its identity. The characters are openly queer, the dynamics are messy in a way that feels human, and the setting inside professional women’s sports gives it a level of specificity that still feels rare in mainstream romance.
That combination is part of what made the book resonate so quickly, especially for readers looking for queer stories that feel both grounded and genuinely fun to read.
What We Know About the TV Adaptation
The TV adaptation, currently titled Playing the Field, is in development at Amazon MGM Studios.
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird are attached as executive producers, which adds a layer of credibility to how the world of professional sports could be portrayed on screen. Beyond that, details are limited.
Why This One Feels Worth Paying Attention To
Queer stories have been making their way into mainstream television for years, but sapphic stories set inside professional sports are still relatively rare. That’s part of what makes this adaptation stand out, sitting at the intersection of two spaces that are both gaining visibility: queer storytelling and women’s sports. And women’s sports, in particular, are in a very different place right now. The audiences are bigger, the coverage is louder, and athletes are becoming cultural figures in their own right, creating more space for stories that go beyond what happens on the field. A story like Cleat Cute arriving on screen feels aligned with that shift.
It’s Early, But It Matters
There’s still a long way to go before Playing the Field becomes a series you can actually watch, and early development doesn’t always lead to a finished show. But even at this stage, a sapphic sports romance being developed with this level of backing is notable. For now, it’s a project worth keeping an eye on.
