A University of Miami sorority traded textbooks for red swimsuits this month, filming TikTok dances and photoshoots at a Key Biscayne beach park as part of a nationwide campaign promoting Fox's upcoming “Baywatch” reboot. The Omega Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon is one of four sororities nationwide tapped to hype the show, which brings the lifeguard franchise back to television for the first time in more than two decades.
The UM chapter shot its promotional content at Crandon Park, an 800-acre Miami-Dade County park on Key Biscayne known for two miles of public oceanfront and its signature lifeguard towers, according to WSVN. The beachfront setting echoes the Southern California coastline where the original series made its name, and sorority members used it to produce photos, dance videos and what members described as humorous and sexy content built around the Baywatch brand. Delta Phi Epsilon member Vivian Amoia said the chapter is celebrating its role in promoting the reboot, while fellow member Camila Goveo said the group has been working together on photos, TikTok videos and choreographed dances, including one set to Dolly Parton's “9 to 5.”
A Marketing Campaign Built for Gen Z
The sorority activation is being run by Campus Launch, the agency coordinating the promotion alongside Fox Entertainment. Campus Launch founder Jake Motyl, who started the company after leaving investment banking according to an interview on Apple Podcasts, called the Baywatch collaboration one of the largest sorority marketing efforts of all time and said sorority activations are an effective way to reach Gen Z audiences with new content.
The approach fits a broader pattern among major brands this year. According to Front Office Sports, companies like Nike and Poppi have poured resources into sorority-focused marketing throughout 2026, leaning on “RushTok” creators and Greek-life networks rather than traditional advertising. Nike reportedly sent customization trailers to sorority houses at schools like Alabama and Texas during recruitment season, a strategy mirrored in Fox's push to get Baywatch content circulating organically among college students who never watched the original show.
UM's Delta Phi Epsilon Has Deep Campus Roots
The University of Miami's Omega Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon was established on the Coral Gables campus in 1939 and is one of 33 recognized social Greek organizations under UM's Panhellenic Association, according to the university's Dean of Students Office. The chapter maintains a designated suite on campus, giving it an established base from which to coordinate the kind of large-scale content production the Baywatch campaign required.
What's Actually Coming Back to TV
The reboot itself leans heavily on both nostalgia and new star power. Stephen Amell stars as Captain Hobie Buchannon, son of the original series' Mitch Buchannon, while Jessica Belkin plays his daughter Charlie Vale, according to TV Insider. The cast also includes Shay Mitchell, Noah Beck and LSU gymnast and influencer Livvy Dunne in her acting debut, with showrunner Matt Nix and executive producer McG steering the project.
Original cast member David Chokachi will reprise his role as Cody Madison in a recurring capacity, and original series co-creators Michael Berk, Greg Bonann and Douglas Schwartz are back as executive producers, per Hypebeast. The 12-episode series is co-produced by Fox Entertainment and Fremantle. That blend of legacy figures and new blood reflects the dual strategy driving the reboot: honoring a franchise that ran for 11 seasons from 1989 to 2001 and was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-watched television series on the planet, while still chasing an audience that discovers shows through short-form video rather than appointment viewing.
Learning From a Failed Lifeguard Drama
Fox's emphasis on recognizable influencers alongside veteran actors follows the 2025 cancellation of its Hawaii lifeguard drama “Rescue: HI-Surf,” which network leadership attributed in part to audiences' unfamiliarity with its cast, as discussed on Reddit's r/television. The lesson appears baked into Baywatch's casting sheet, which pairs Dunne and Beck's built-in social followings with Amell's established television résumé.
Fox gave the reboot a straight-to-series order of 12 episodes in September 2025, with a broadcast premiere set for January 2027 and next-day streaming access on Hulu, according to Forbes. The series is expected to anchor Fox's 2026-2027 primetime drama lineup. The October trailer, which debuted this month, showcases the franchise's signature elements — high-stakes ocean rescues, the iconic red swimsuits and slow-motion beach runs — including a sequence depicting lifeguards responding to a parasailing plane crash, according to LADbible.
For now, the closest South Florida gets to the new Baywatch is the Delta Phi Epsilon chapter's beach shoot at Crandon Park, which members say they are treating as a genuine celebration rather than just a marketing assignment. The series itself arrives on Channel 7 starting in January 2027.
