The Summer the NFL Turned Pretty

Are you Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah?

Even if you haven’t seen the Amazon Prime series “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” you may have heard about it if you follow your favorite NFL team on TikTok.

As the show airs its third and final season, fans on TikTok have sparked a trending conversation around the love triangle between its main characters Belly Conklin and the Fisher boys, Conrad and Jeremiah.

And surprisingly – many professional sports teams have joined in.

The Eagles are #TeamConrad and so are the Saints, Steelers, Dolphins, the list goes on. Teams fully embraced the chaos of the show and came up with creative memes, asked players whose side they were on (though many were confused about who Conrad and Jeremiah are), and even the league itself got involved.

The show’s TikTok account could be found in the comments of almost every post, fully embracing the unlikely fans.

Fis(her)ing for a New Audience

The NFL has made a big investment in using its social media presence to break into younger demographics like Gen Z.

Why? 65% of viewers in the 2023-2024 season were ages 45 and up. The 18-24 year old demographic only accounted for 5% of viewers. That’s a problem if the NFL wants to maintain a fanbase well into the future.

Women make up nearly half (47%) of the NFL’s audience today. Through “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” the league and its teams have deepened their connection with this key audience – while specifically targeting Gen Z women.

It’s a move that shows the NFL is aware of this growing portion of its audience and what they’re interested in – an important marketing tactic for any company that’s looking to expand or strengthen its relationship with a key audience.