Hockey, well, hockey romance is thriving.
Canadian hack Crave has been a huge success Hot competition — one of the most talked-about shows of the past year — has become a pop culture phenomenon. Not only did the hockey romantic drama take social media by storm in late 2025, it made certified stars out of its then-unknown lead actors, Hudson Williams and Connor Story, and the source material, a series of Rachel Reid novels, became bestsellers years after its release. The show created by Jacob Tierney has become an appointment television show, a rarity in the era of streaming.
Romance readers probably won’t be surprised – this once thought niche subgenre is actually a thriving sector of the genre. Many months after its outbreak, Hot competition It adds to its parent company’s bottom line, as Robert Thompson, News Corp’s chief executive, told analysts on May 7: “We continue to see feverish interest in Rachel Reid.” Hot competition Print and digital, even in countries where ice hockey is not a mainstream sport.
Meanwhile, Off campusthe latest hockey-centric show to be streamed online, was also a hit for Prime Video in the month following its release. The show, based on Elle Kennedy’s book series, has been in development for years, and as is the case with Reed’s novels, it had a prequel to a loyal fanbase. It quickly became the third biggest debut of all time.
The emergence of hockey’s romance has given the sport something that football and basketball have long had — a true pop culture moment. This is not to say that hockey has never existed in popular culture – Mighty ducksOf course, it cannot be ignored. but Hot competitionHis release came at the perfect moment for the sport of hockey Off campus He went on to consolidate his place. The question now is how the National Hockey League and the Women’s Professional Hockey League plan to capitalize on this moment. However, NHL executives must take this into consideration Hot competition He’ll be much less kind to the fantasy league in Season 2. But more on that later.
Social media, especially TikTok, began to focus on professional hockey players in both the NHL and PWHL when Hot competition It was shown for the first time. There has been, and even more so now, a plethora of fan-style TikTok liberating young NHL talent — San Jose Sharks players Maclin Celebrini and Will Smith both have large fanbases of young women on social media — making the phrase “fishbowl boy” almost inescapable on the app. The Olympics were on the horizon and would prove fruitful for the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams, as they both captured gold.
“Sometimes, the stars just need to align,” says John Weinstein, the NHL’s chief communications officer and senior executive vice president. Hollywood Reporter In the last zoom. “Right now, the stars are aligned.”
The executive speaks from Raleigh, North Carolina for the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights. The Hurricanes would go on to win the series 4-2 in Game 6 last Sunday.
For those who work in the sport of hockey, there was little doubt that it would be a major breakthrough; It was always about finding the right car. “We know that hockey has the ability to transcend its traditional audience and attract people,” says a PWHL representative. “It just takes storytelling, characters, and a connection to culture in order to do that.” THR.
“These shows really help make the sport more familiar and accessible and give people permission to participate in hockey even if they don’t know all the rules or have decades of history with the game,” adds the rep.
For some fans, the PWHL seemed like an easier entry point into the sport. Unlike the NHL, the women’s professional league is only three seasons old and still expanding. The league has added teams in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose ahead of the upcoming 2026-2027 season. New fans can learn all about the PWHL through a YouTube series called “PWHL 101” to bring new fans up to speed. PHWL has seen tremendous growth recently, but it’s hard to connect that to a TV show given its nascent stage.
Viewership for women’s sports has been on the rise, and the 2026 Olympic women’s hockey gold medal game between the United States and Canada set a viewership record to become the most-watched women’s hockey game of all time, according to Nielsen. It averaged 5.3 million viewers across USA Network and Peacock, peaking at 7.7 million viewers during the final minutes of the game.
The NHL has several things to point to for its recent growth – the 2026 Olympics and the Four Nations showdown. The league is touting record attendance and ratings for Game 6 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals, where the Hurricanes cruised to victory, drawing 5.9 million viewers. This was the highest number of viewers for any Six game since 2019.
TNT Sports indicated that its viewership is among women, who constitute a large percentage of both Hot competition‘sand Off campusFan bases have grown 63 percent annually for NHL playoff games. The league seems confident that new fans are coming through these avenues. “Hot competition “It’s brought a new fan base to hockey,” says Steve Mayer, the NHL’s president of content and events.
The NHL says they aim to attract people to the rink because once they get there, the league feels confident they will “hook” them and create new, loyal fans. “You never know what it will take to get someone to actually come and watch, and Hot competitionWithout a doubt, it got a lot of people talking. [It] “It got a lot of people curious about hockey. We really believe that once they saw how great the game was, they stayed,” Mayer continues.
However, there is no misunderstanding in any of the journals. Hot competition This wave on television began largely due to the show, not just the sport. “A lot has to do with the quality of the show, and Hot competition It is an amazing show. “It was very well done,” says Mayer.
“hot competition”The game’s popularity began to bleed over into other aspects of hockey culture early in its career. Hockey podcasters, of which there are many, are starting to notice this, but it hadn’t happened before What a mess! Hosts Pete Blackburn and DJ Penn, along with their producer Sean DePaz, showed early interest.
“I think I just figured it out with my algorithm,” Bean says. This was before the Canadian series was distributed internationally on HBO, and was only scheduled to air on Bell Media’s Crave streaming device. They started a slogan in their show – Just get them to November 28, Hot competitionPremiere date.
It’s worth noting that Tierney himself has appeared on the podcast more than once, which should be a good indicator of how they’re approaching the show. Naturally, this engagement brought new fans to the Bostonians’ show. “Forget everything that’s done for our fans. We love that it’s improved the hockey scene,” Bean says.
“I have,” Blackburn adds It very quickly escaped containment and became something everyone was watching and talking about. “And he had such charisma.” “The show itself was one of the best shows we’ve ever seen, and it seemed like it had choked the entire world for a month and a half.”
Hot competitionThe popularity of the hockey world brought romance front and center. Much like Tierney, who learned about Reed’s books through… The Washington Post An article on the niche subgenre, the NHL first became aware of its popularity through books. In the world of romance novels, romance hockey is a booming business, driven primarily by BookTok, a section of TikTok dedicated to book influencers.
These romantic hockey books are being adapted for the screen Hot competition and Off campus He did, and this leads many products to deal with professional leagues during the development process. The NHL knew about it off campus, Which uses its team names Boston Bruins and New York Rangers throughout the series. hot competition, However, he chose to go another way.
Mayer says the team is now “really close” with Tierney, but noted that he and his producing partner Brendan Brady had not approached the league before the show aired. “They wanted to give a real story to the book. Yes, there’s an NHL in the book, but they wanted to do their own thing. We respect that. We really respect it,” says the exec. On the TV show Heated Rivalry, the men’s professional league was renamed the MLH.
The exec says they’re aware of another project coming from Netflix, apparently referring to the recently announced adaptation of the widely acclaimed Hannah Grace novel Icebreaker. “Everyone is trying to get into the hockey business,” Mayer says. “There’ll be more. I’m telling you, we’re moving left and right.”
The NHL knows they are witnessing a phenomenon unfolding before their eyes, and they welcome it. “Hot competition The wave started, and the waves continued. Off campus “It’s also unbelievable,” says Mayer, who believes this shows momentum.
But as new fans flock in intakes away the light from how to attract fans and the reality of retaining those fans, especially gay fans. In 2023, the NHL banned the use of the Pride stripe, along with Pride jerseys and other specialized jerseys worn during games and warmups. The league later rescinded the Pride Ribbon decision.
Weinstein responds when asked how the league plans to retain those fans coming from a strange franchise given the league’s history, asserting that “perception and reality don’t match up” on the subject.
Fans of Reed’s books know that a second season could pose a difficult situation for the NHL, which is willing to go “all in” in the new season. in The long gameShane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storey) finally jump from one situation to another, and the book’s main tension shifts to the emotional toll of hiding a serious relationship and the fictional league’s weak response to their relationship once they’re out.
Reed, for all intents and purposes, portrays the fictional league commissioner as the legitimate big bad in Shane and Elijah’s story. The NHL knows what’s coming, and Weinstein still isn’t interested in the real NHL and its commissioner. “The book is about a fictional character,” he says. “We want everyone to feel like they belong in hockey.”
Mayer has an idea for that story. “There’s one burning question we all have,” he says. “Who will play the role of commissioner?”
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