Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe Adapting Lesbian Soccer Romance Novel ‘Cleat Cute’ Into a TV Show
Daniel Bartel/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF
In what is the most thrilling announcement regarding “people we love turning a lesbian sports story we love into a lesbian sports TV show we’re going to love” since the League Of Their Own announcement, today the sapphic community is bursting at the loins with excitement for Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe teaming up with independent TV studio Future Shack Entertainment to adapt Meryl Wilsner‘s bestselling lesbian romance novel Cleat Cute into a TV show.
Cleat Cute was a hit in the queer community and earned a big lift from BookTok as well — and in general, we’ve been seeing so many more sapphic romance novels coming out of major publishing houses over the past few years than ever before. The runaway success of Casey McQuiston’s Red, White and Royal Blue and its middling Prime Video adaptation was one step towards proving the genre’s marketability, and hopefully this will give contemporary W/W romance a similar boost.
“If you’re a fan of women’s soccer, you’re going to see not only your favorite sport play out in the pages of a queer romance novel, but also your own self reflected back at you,” Heather Hogan wrote in her review of Cleat Cute. “And that’s cool as heck. Mostly, though, Cleat Cute is full of sexy sex sex. Unapologetic sapphic sex.”
Cleat Cute, published by Griffin in 2023, was Wilsner’s third Sapphic romance — previously, they penned Something to Talk About and Mistakes Were Made.
Cleat Cute is the story of a young rookie soccer player dreaming of a spot on the national team and also sorting through her developing romance with her team captain.
“Having spent most of our lives on teams, we want to celebrate the ways in which relationships, both romantic and platonic, are organically created through sports,” Bird and Rapinoe said of their choice to adapt the book. “Cleat Cute will not shy away from the messiness, occasional frustration, and undeniable beauty that come with loving the game and the players within it.”
A Touch More launched in 2022, but this will be their first adventure into scripted content. Their first project was ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcast “Pink Card,” which told the story of Iranian women fighting to watch soccer. Bird, Rapinoe and A Touch More’s development head, Camille Bernier-Green, will be executive producing Cleat Cute with Meryl Wilsner.
According to Variety, “the company plans to expand its scripted and nonscripted titles as it explores the sports landscape and beyond.”
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you forgot to mention that my bff Camille Bernier-Green is Executive Producing!!!!!! lol but true.
Meryl Wilsner is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, fyi! You used “she” in paragraph four.
So excited for Cleat Cute to become a TV show but even more excited to see Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s involvement!! Wherever it ends up, I’ll be watching!