As he waited for a name from his agent in September, Isaac Rochell, knowledgeable soccer participant on the lookout for a workforce, watched the Nationwide Soccer League’s opening weekend video games on tv together with his toddler daughter. His spouse wanted a child sitter.
Allison Kucharczyk, Rochell’s spouse and an internet influencer with greater than three million TikTok followers, was nearer to the sphere than he was because of a partnership with NBC Sports activities. She was crisscrossing continents on a non-public jet with different content material creators to doc a weekend of rowdy tailgates, concession meals and stadium environments at N.F.L. video games in Kansas Metropolis, Mo.; São Paulo, Brazil; and Detroit.
By documenting her way of life as knowledgeable athlete’s spouse, Kucharczyk has turn out to be extra well-known than Rochell, who reached the best stage of his sport however by no means turned a family title. When collectively in public, Rochell stated, individuals generally ask for Kucharczyk’s autograph as an alternative of his.
“It doesn’t harm my ego — I’m excited for her — nevertheless it was loopy,” stated Rochell, a defensive lineman who has performed for 4 N.F.L. groups in seven seasons.
Because the N.F.L. and its media companions courtroom extra feminine viewers, they’re more and more aligning with the wives and girlfriends of gamers. (The partnership of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift was inescapable final season.) They hope that potential followers who’re bored with sports activities jargon and gamers battering each other on the sphere would possibly as an alternative reply to clothes ensembles and glamorized experiences in luxurious suites.
“When ladies see me sharing concerning the N.F.L., they’re lastly like, ‘Wow I can truly have an interest on this different than simply stats,’” Kucharczyk, 29, stated. “I believe there’s a spot for everyone inside sports activities.”
She added, “You don’t need to be an enormous title for individuals to be invested in your story.”
Rochell, 29, performed faculty soccer at Notre Dame and was a seventh-round draft decide by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017. Whereas he fought to remain on groups’ rosters for a number of seasons, he additionally was lively on their social media channels, repeatedly volunteering for initiatives. He proposed to Kucharczyk, whom he met at a school occasion, whereas they had been recording a Chargers podcast in 2020.
“If you happen to spend 5 minutes with Allison and Isaac collectively, you see their chemistry and the way real they’re,” stated Jason Lavine, the Chargers’ senior vp for model inventive and content material. “That sort of relationship is one thing you need to spotlight in your feed.”
In the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the couple posted repeatedly on TikTok. Rochell took viewers behind the scenes of N.F.L. routines, together with the buffet-style meals that gamers eat the night time earlier than video games. Lots of Kucharczyk’s posts displayed the much less glamorous aspect of Rochell’s nomadic profession, equivalent to dwelling aside and packing to maneuver cities — Indianapolis, Cleveland, Las Vegas — each time he switched groups.
Whereas 9 months pregnant, Kucharczyk, who had labored as an inside designer, advised followers that she had sobbed when the Las Vegas Raiders launched Rochell in November 2023, weeks earlier than her due date. Kucharczyk, who acknowledges that they’ve monetary sources not obtainable to everybody, says the net group she fostered helped her via their chaotic moments.
“I believe sharing makes me really feel much less alone,” she stated.
Because the couple’s social presence grew, the N.F.L. seen. The league despatched Rochell a jersey with a “Mr. Kuch” nameplate and Kucharczyk was a red-carpet correspondent at a Tremendous Bowl occasion final yr. The couple additionally participated in a voter registration marketing campaign with former President Barack Obama.
“On this subsequent era of content material creators, they perceive how they each may be profitable and what they should do to assist one another,” stated Ian Trombetta, the N.F.L.’s senior vp for social, influencer and content material advertising.
British tabloids coined the acronym “WAG” (wives and girlfriends) twenty years in the past to consult with the companions of soccer gamers, and several other well-known soccer gamers have had equally well-known spouses. The supermodel Gisele Bündchen was a public advocate for Tom Brady earlier than their 13-year marriage resulted in 2022, and the singer Ciara married the quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.
However it was Swift’s relationship with Kelce that ignited a brand new stage of curiosity.
Kristin Juszczyk, the spouse of the San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, began a clothes line this month after designing outerwear for Swift and the Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (who’s married to the Chicago Bears security Jonathan Owens). Fox Sports activities recorded a phase this season with Alix Earle, a TikTok influencer with seven million followers who’s relationship the Miami Dolphins receiver Braxton Berrios. And this month, Netflix will launch a sequence, “W.A.G.s to Riches,” that follows the numerous others of athletes and entertainers, together with Keeta Hill, the spouse of the Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill.
Rochell by no means bought that decision from his agent, however he’s nonetheless coaching in hopes that an N.F.L. workforce will signal him. Even when he has to retire, the league stated it’s going to proceed to work with the couple.
“It’s truly simpler as a result of he’ll have extra time,” Trombetta stated with fun.
