Will ‘Heated Rivalry’ do for Olympic ice hockey what Taylor Swift did for the Super Bowl?

HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry, a gay hockey romance TV series based on the Game Changers book series by Rachel Reid, is the breakout hit no one saw coming. With almost no promotion, it quickly became one of the most talked-about streaming TV shows in the U.S. after HBO Max purchased the rights from Canada’s Crave network this November, turning its two co-stars, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, into overnight celebrities.

What’s unique about Heated Rivalry is just how fast its popularity has spread, and how devoted its massive fan base is. From the week it debuted, to its season finale six episodes later, its viewership grew from 30 million to 324 million streaming minutes, according to Luminate research group, per The New York Times.

The story—about two rival hockey players who fall in love, Canadian Shane Hollander and Russian Ilya Rozanov—is a slow-burn romance spanning a decade, and includes explicit sexual scenes, which some attribute to the success of the series. Director Jacob Tierney has described the show as “pure queer joy.”

Now, those diehard romance fans—mostly women and gay men—have an unlikely new interest: ice hockey. It sets the stage for what looks like the newest audience crossover from entertainment to sports, after Taylor Swift fans found football a few years ago when the singer began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (now her fiancé). Swift is estimated to have generated over $1 billion in publicity and revenue for the NFL, according to a MarketWatch report.

The Heated Rivalry effect

Turning to ice hockey, ticket reseller Seat Geek says interest in hockey has surged thanks to Heated Rivalry. And that could translate into viewing for the Olympics.

“The Winter Olympics always cause interest to spike for hockey, and this time demand is already at a fever pitch following the breakout success of Heated Rivalry,” Chris Leyden, Seat Geek’s director of growth marketing, tells Fast Company. 

“After the show’s first episodes aired, we saw weekly hockey ticket sales on SeatGeek jump more than 20%, with revenue up over 30%,” he adds. “It’s certainly great for the NHL that hockey is top of mind for the broader American public for such an extended period.”

Building on that momentum, less than two weeks ago, Heated Rivalry co-stars Williams and Storrie carried the Olympic torch in Feltre, Italy in the runup to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, wearing matching Olympic tracksuits as they made their way through the crowded streets on the 49th leg of the torch relay. (The games begin Friday, February 6, broadcasting on NBC and streaming on Peacock.)

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) tells Fast Company there is “strong anticipation for the Olympic ice hockey tournaments, particularly with the return of NHL players,” adding that ice hockey “is traditionally among the most popular and followed sports at the Olympic Winter Games.”

And in Boston—where Heated Rivalry‘s Russian character Ilya Rozanov plays for the fictional Boston Raiders team—some fans are getting ready to watch the Olympics.

“I read the books, watched the series, and went from Heated Rivalry to actually learning about ice hockey, and watching YouTube videos about the history of the game,” Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, a science journalism fellow at MIT, tells Fast Company. “I looked at the schedule and the teams for the Olympics hockey . . . I will watch them, especially women’s hockey,” he says, adding that “I think in general, a lot of women’s sports are under appreciated.”

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