Are these WAGs in it for love… or the lifestyle?
There’s something infatuating about watching WAG relationships unfold online. It’s part fairy tale, part reality TV, and highly addictive. You scroll past a photo of her cheering from the sidelines, decked out in team gear taking photos for Instagram, and you think: relationship goals. But then we start to wonder, how much of it is real love… and how much is for the aesthetic?
Welcome to the world of WAGs, that’s wives and girlfriends of professional athletes. Once used by tabloids as a throwaway label, “WAG” has now become its own lifestyle category, blending romance, fame, and marketing in one term.
And in 2025, the spotlight’s brighter than ever.
The Modern WAG Era: From Tabloid Stereotype to Power Couple Branding
The early 2000s gave us the original blueprint, Victoria Beckham at soccer matches in heels, the wives of NFL stars in reality shows like Football Wives. Back then, WAGs were often portrayed as arm candy, not equals. But that’s changed.
Now, being a WAG is a brand and aesthetic, a full-time job, a social media presence, and, for some, a multimillion-dollar empire. The modern WAG isn’t just standing on the sidelines; she’s front-row at Fashion Week, signing sponsorships, and running her own businesses.
The new generation of WAGs:
- Alix Earle & Braxton Berrios – The influencer and NFL crossover couple everyone’s watching.
- Livvy Dunne & Paul Skenes – The golden college sports duo gone pro.
- Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce – The ultimate pop star–athlete power couple who broke the internet.
Each of them tells a different story about how love and fame collide in the social media era, and what it really means to date in the public eye.
Alix Earle & Braxton Berrios: A Modern Wag Relationship
It started the way all modern romances do, Instagram soft launches, public appearances, blurry vacation photos, and a comment section full of speculation. When Alix Earle (aka the queen of the GRWM) started showing up in Miami, fans noticed NFL wide receiver Braxton Berrios lurking in the background. Before long, the internet connected the dots.
At first, Alix insisted they were “just friends.” Then came the confirmation, and suddenly, every sports outlet wanted a piece of the story. According to People, Alix wanted to take things slow at first but eventually leaned into the relationship. It’s one of the most talked-about WAG relationships on social media, where fans analyze every post and caption like it’s part of a game plan. What made their relationship so fascinating wasn’t just the glamour, it was the strategy behind it. Alix isn’t just dating an athlete; she’s highlighting the crossover between sports and influencer culture. Her followers love the inside peek at gamedays behind the scenes and pre-game fits. It’s the perfect collaboration of love and marketing.
This season is a little bit different for their relationship as Braxton was traded to the Houston Texans and Alix is starring on Dancing With The Stars this season. Nonetheless they remain one of the internet’s favorite couples and their viewers are more invested than ever.
Still, it raises the question: when your relationship is content, can it ever really be private?
Livvy Dunne & Paul Skenes: How WAG Relationships
If Alix and Braxton are the influencer-athlete archetype, Livvy Dunne and Paul Skenes are the golden couple next door. She’s a gymnast, TikTok star, and one of the highest-paid NCAA athletes in history. He’s an MLB pitcher who lets his game do the talking.
When they started dating, fans lost it. Livvy’s social media fame collided with Paul’s rising sports profile, creating a cultural moment where both were equally famous, but in totally different worlds. What’s interesting about Livvy is how self-aware she is about the scrutiny. In an interview, she said she looks up to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, especially in how they navigate fame as a couple. She’s learned to protect certain parts of her relationship, even while living in the public eye. But Livvy’s also faced a lot of criticism. People accuse her of being “too online,” as if female athletes aren’t allowed to also be influencers. Paul openly supports her success, and that balance between mutual respect and public attention is what makes them work.
Like other WAG relationships, theirs has to balance distance, schedules, and constant public attention. It’s kind of refreshing to see a sports couple embrace modern fame without pretending it doesn’t exist.
Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce: The Ultimate Celebrity Athlete Couple
You can’t talk about WAGs without talking about the WAG era’s main characters: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Their relationship isn’t just romantic, it’s cultural history. Few WAG relationships have reached this level of visibility, where love, branding, and sports culture collide on such a massive scale.
When Travis shot his shot at Taylor on his podcast, it felt like a rom-com moment. But the way the story unfolded afterward, the game appearances, the friendship bracelets, the custom Chiefs jacket, was genius. Taylor didn’t just date an athlete; she rewrote the playbook for what a celebrity-athlete relationship could be. NFL viewership spiked. Chiefs jerseys sold out. Every network covered it. And while everyone joked about Taylor “taking over football,” what she actually did was reframe the conversation around WAG culture. For once, it wasn’t “the athlete and his girlfriend.” It was two global brands, side by side.
Of course, being that public comes with its own chaos. Every game-day hug is analyzed. Every lyric gets decoded. But Taylor and Travis seem unbothered, choosing to make visibility their power move. Their love story might be part of pop culture, but it also feels, weirdly, like two people having fun and owning it.
The Performance of Love: What We Don’t See Behind the Posts
The funny thing about all these couples, whether it’s Alix and Braxton, Livvy and Paul, or Taylor and Travis, is that we think we know them. We think we’re seeing “real love.” But what we’re actually seeing is the edited version.
Relationships under the spotlight work differently. Every post has meaning. Every silence becomes a rumor. These couples live at the merging of intimacy and entertainment, and that’s both fascinating and exhausting.
When love becomes content, privacy becomes rebellion. Alix once said she avoids showing certain moments because “not everything is for the internet.” Taylor’s done the same, keeping her relationship offline for years until she decided to go public again. Even Livvy, who built her fame online, draws lines between her brand and her personal life.
The pressure to perform perfection 24/7 isn’t sustainable, even for people who thrive on the spotlight. And yet, it’s what keeps the audience engaged.
Love, Fame, and the Double Standard
It’s worth mentioning how different the conversation is when it comes to women in these dynamics. When male athletes date influencers, people say they’re lucky. When female influencers date athletes, people accuse them of chasing clout.
WAGs have to constantly prove they’re more than “the girlfriend.” Alix Earle is a business major who turned content creation into a brand. Livvy Dunne built a multimillion-dollar empire before even graduating college. Taylor Swift, of course, is one of the most powerful artists in history.
Still, they get reduced to who they’re dating. Meanwhile, the athletes’ fame only grows from the association. It’s an old-school double standard repackaged for the digital age, and the new generation of WAGs is actively rewriting it.
What These Relationships Say About Us
Our obsession with athlete relationships says more about us than them. We crave the fantasy of glamorous love stories, luxury, success, and loyalty under pressure. But we also love the drama. We want to believe in “forever,” even as we refresh for breakup rumors. That’s what makes WAG relationships so fascinating, they sit at the crossroads of genuine connection and public performance.
The truth is, these couples are playing the same game we all are, just at a higher level. Everyone’s curating their own highlight reel on Instagram. Everyone’s posting the best version of their life. WAG culture just magnifies it to a global scale.
Maybe that’s why we care so much. Their love stories mirror our own need for connection, validation, and a little bit of spectacle.
Are They Relationship Goals… or Just Part of the Game?
At the end of the day, it’s probably both. Yes, these couples are brand-savvy and image-conscious. But they also look genuinely happy, laughing in the stands, supporting each other’s careers, living the version of modern love that’s both public and private at once.
They’re teaching us that in 2025, love doesn’t have to be secret to be real. You can post your partner and still mean it. You can build a brand together and still be in love. You can be a WAG and still be your own person.
So next time you see Alix cheering for Braxton, or Livvy repping Paul’s jersey, or Taylor kissing Travis on the field, enjoy it. It’s not just PR. It’s performance and passion. Because in the end, every WAG knows: You can play the game and still play for love.
