As he waited for a name from his agent in September, Isaac Rochell, knowledgeable soccer participant searching for a crew, watched the Nationwide Soccer League’s opening weekend video games on tv along 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 sector 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 identify. When collectively in public, Rochell mentioned, folks typically 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,” mentioned 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 court docket 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 tired of sports activities jargon and gamers battering each other on the sector may 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 really have an interest on this different than simply stats,’” Kucharczyk, 29, mentioned. “I believe there’s a spot for everyone inside sports activities.”
She added, “You don’t must be an enormous identify for folks to be invested in your story.”
Rochell, 29, performed faculty soccer at Notre Dame and was a seventh-round draft choose 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, frequently volunteering for tasks. He proposed to Kucharczyk, whom he met at a university celebration, 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,” mentioned Jason Lavine, the Chargers’ senior vp for model artistic and content material. “That kind of relationship is one thing you need to spotlight in your feed.”
In the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the couple posted frequently 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 facet of Rochell’s nomadic profession, akin 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, instructed 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 out there to everybody, says the web group she fostered helped her by their chaotic moments.
“I believe sharing makes me really feel much less alone,” she mentioned.
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 12 months. 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,” mentioned Ian Trombetta, the N.F.L.’s senior vp for social, influencer and content material advertising and marketing.
British tabloids coined the acronym “WAG” (wives and girlfriends) 20 years in the past to consult with the companions of soccer gamers, and a number of 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 led to 2022, and the singer Ciara married the quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.
But it surely 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 courting 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 acquired that decision from his agent, however he’s nonetheless coaching in hopes that an N.F.L. crew will signal him. Even when he has to retire, the league mentioned it’ll proceed to work with the couple.
“It’s really simpler as a result of he’ll have extra time,” Trombetta mentioned with amusing.
