Everything we know about the sexy lesbian sports romance that could rival Heated Rivalry

“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,” the couple, who have been dating since 2016, told Deadline. “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.”

The book was optioned under Rapinoe and Bird’s company, A Touch More, and will be their first scripted television project. Wilsner is attached as an executive producer, alongside Bird, Rapinoe, and A Touch More head of development Camille Bernier-Green.

But what is the book about, and what do we know about the upcoming adaptation?

What is Cleat Cute about?

The 2023 novel follows two characters on the U.S. Women’s National Team whose rivalry leads to romance. Cleat Cute follows 22-year-old Phoebe Matthews, whose dreams finally start coming true when she’s invited to the World Cup training camp, where she’ll be filling in for her idol, Grace Henderson, the 26-year-old team captain who has been benched with an injury. The two women may be rivals, but they quickly start a friends-with-benefits relationship, and while Phoebe falls hard after their first kiss and is convinced they’re dating, Grace tries to keep her at arm's length because she still considers them to be rivals and worries that Phoebe will replace her.

Cleat Cute, which is described as Ted Lasso meets A League of Their Own, has a great blend of steamy moments and fun rom-com vibes full of your favorite tropes like grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, rivals-to-lovers, and friends with benefits, but with a sapphic twist!

Just how queer is it?

Unlike Heated Rivalry, which is about two closeted hockey players who are terrified of their teammates and the general public finding out about their sexuality, in Cleat Cute, the main characters are out lesbians who don’t hide their identity. There are also multiple queer characters on their soccer team and no one’s sexuality or gender identity is ever called into question. This makes sense considering how vastly different the NHL — which has a homophobia problem and no out athletes — is from women’s soccer, which is full of out sapphic players.

Phoebe also has a trans masc brother named Teddy and the novel weaves mentions of his transition and using chest binders seamlessly into the story. There is also a coworker who is genderqueer who has had chest surgery and two of the Grace and Phoebe’s teammates are married to each other.

Who is starring in Cleat Cute?

The Cleat Cute TV show is still in the development stage, and so casting hasn’t been released yet, but queer Stranger Things and Riverdale star Shannon Purser did announce on social media that she’s interested in starring in the series.

“y’all I’m sorry this isn’t an announcement I’m just saying I’m available and gay,” she wrote on X after making a post about the Cleat Cute adaptation. Purser may not have landed the role yet, but her manager said she's a fan of the source material. "I think she's just putting her name out there because she loves the project," Matt Shelton said. "Wish it was more!"

When will Cleat Cute come out?

The novel was optioned back in 2024, but since then Rapinoe and Bird’s production company hasn’t made any announcements about when the series will go forward. Since the show hasn’t started filming yet, it’s unlikely we would get it until 2027 at the earliest.

Hopefully the success of Heated Rivarly will translate into a network picking the show so that we can finally get a release date!