Could Heated Rivalry bring a whole new fanbase to ice hockey – and can the sport embrace them?

Heated Rivalry has taken the world by a storm. The series tells the story of rivals-to-lovers hockey players Japanese-Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), and their yearslong relationship navigating falling in love while playing professional sport.

Based on the Game Changers ice hockey romance novels by Rachel Reid, the series has garnered significant attention. The sports romance genre is experiencing a boom, and studios – and sports – are starting to take notice of these new audiences.

Can sporting bodies learn from this phenomenon to make sport more inclusive?

Queer players in men’s sports

Sport romance stories such as Heated Rivalry depict sporting worlds where queer joy, acceptance and belonging is not only possible, but is enthusiastically embraced.

While queerness in women’s sports is relatively accepted, it isn’t in men’s sport.

In Australia, there are very few out male professional athletes, with the exceptions of the A-League Men’s Josh Cavallo and National Basketball League’s Isaac Humphries.

Former AFL player Mitch Brown recently came out as bisexual, but has acknowledged he only felt comfortable doing so after retiring.

While there are now approximately 30 out players in the North American Professional Women’s Hockey League, there are currently no out players in the men’s National Hockey League.

The absence of out players in the NHL may be related to the impacts of the league’s past actions. The league infamously mishandled its pride round in 2023, when rainbow pride tape – which wraps around the hockey sticks – was banned from use. If sporting pride colours was an issue, being queer in and around the league most definitely was too.

The league is now having to grapple with the influx of Heated Rivalry fans seeking out content complementary to the show. In this, Heated Rivalry might inspire some social change in sport with new fans attending the game.

Melbourne’s Southern Lights, Australia’s first LGBT+ ice hockey club, are even promoting come-and-try opportunities off the back of Heated Rivalry’s success.

The series has also attracted straight men in sports media and content creation spaces – spaces that have not always been kind to or cognisant of diverse communities.

The popular ice hockey podcast Empty Netters is actively engaging with the series while learning about queer culture through the entry point of a sport the hosts know and love.

They are bringing along an audience unlikely to engage with queer storytelling, imbuing allyship rarely seen in sports media.

Heated Rivalry gets queer love right

Heated Rivalry is not just a hockey show about queer players. The show centres diverse, compelling human stories seldom depicted in men’s professional sport. Ice hockey might provide the setting – but falling in love, finding community and feeling seen is universal.

The show progressively recognises and affirms diversity within the queer community. Shane expresses he’s only attracted to men; he notes Ilya can potentially find “socially acceptable” love by dating women. The two may be in love, but their experiences are not the same.

Importantly, Ilya’s bisexuality is never erased.

Allyship is actively portrayed through strong supporting characters. Women, in particular, provide friendship, emotional support, home truths and moral compasses for the queer characters. They demonstrate ways those outside the queer community can be allies, advocates and offer an access point for non-queer audiences.

Even straight women are self-professed superfans. For some straight women, the distance from being immersed in straight storytelling can offer some relief from problematic stereotypes such as gendered power dynamics and body image – while also providing escapism and eye candy.

Importantly, Heated Rivalry conforms to the romance genre rule of giving the audience a happily ever after.

This is especially significant in queer storytelling. Queer love and coming out stories are often portrayed as traumatic and tragic, giving into the “bury your gays” trope.

Teaching professional sports a diversity lesson

NHL team the Seattle Kraken attempted to embrace romance readers back in 2023, encouraging social media posting by fans that embraced the voyeurism of sports romance and sexualised the real professional athletes.

But the team did not establish boundaries to protect their brand and their athletes.

This misguided approach also lead to the romance community being perceived by traditional sports fans as inappropriate women who could not distinguish reality from fiction.

Sports love a pop culture silver bullet that brings in new fans. The American National Football League is experiencing this with the Taylor Swift effect, with Swift frequently attending her fiance’s games.

But to meaningfully engage new and diverse fans, cultural change is needed. Sports organisations need to further understand these audiences to serve them and keep them connected.

Hopefully this sports romance trend and the popularity of Heated Rivalry will also shine a light on women’s sport where queer stories are plentiful and prime for storytelling. The Professional Women’s Hockey League even features a real-life equivalent of Shane’s and Ilya’s tale in Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette.

The market is there, it’s not what you’d expect, and it’s finally being catered to. Sports organisations should be paying attention.