HBO Max's #1 Series Is A Must-Watch Steamy Sports Romance

Unless you've been living under a rock or perhaps on some sort of space adventure, you're probably at least a little familiar with "Heated Rivalry," the Crave and HBO Max collaboration that's heating up the streaming charts.

According to FlixPatrol, "Heated Rivalry" — created by "Letterkenny" and "Shoresy" veteran Jacob Tierney and adapted from a series of queer romance novels by Canadian author Rachel Reid — is, as of this writing, the number one show on HBO's TV charts. Frankly, if you have been paying attention to the incredible ascension of "Heated Rivalry," that's probably not a huge surprise! The show and its two stars, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, are everywhere ... and if you're a fan of "Heated Rivalry," you know it's pretty incredible to watch this unabashedly joyful, queer series find audiences all over the world.

So what is "Heated Rivalry" about, for the uninitiated? When hockey rivals and young stars Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) first meet, both notice an initial and almost immediate attraction, even though they play for teams that — you guessed it — have endured a bitter rivalry for years (Canadian Shane plays for the Montreal Metros, while Ilya, a Russian, plays for the Boston Raiders). After a few secret hookups, the two start finding increasingly complicated ways to meet up while still keeping their budding relationship a secret. Along the way, we follow another love story (we'll circle back to that momentarily), but the focus is Shane and Ilya and their deeply complex feelings for one another. So what happens throughout the six excellent episodes of the debut season of "Heated Rivalry," which has already been renewed for a second season?

Despite the fact that Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have a longstanding hockey rivalry to deal with, they're also completely in love with each other, even as they both insist their situation is only casual at first. Things get a little more complicated as Ilya (who identifies as a bisexual man) continues his extremely close friendship with his in-the-know bestie Svetlana Sergeevna Vetrova (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova) and as Shane embarks on a very public relationship with actress Rose Landry ("Yellowjackets" standout Sophie Nélisse). Still, despite their fears and hesitations, Shane and Ilya can't stay away from one another ... and eventually, they're able to confide in Svetlana and Rose, who become trusted friends ensuring that the two men can safely be a part of their secret relationship.

Discussing Shane and Ilya does mean we also have to discuss Christopher "Kip" Grady and Scott Hunter, a barista and New York-based hockey star played respectively by Robbie G.K. and François Arnaud. In the first season's third episode, "Hunter," we watch their romance also blossom in secret, even as Kip basically moves into Scott's beautiful Manhattan apartment. Still, Scott is unwilling to go public at first, leaving Kip brokenhearted ... and then, in the season's penultimate episode "I'll Believe in Anything," Scott's team, the New York Admirals, win a huge championship. Overwhelmed with joy and love, Scott brings Kip onto the ice and kisses his boyfriend in front of the entire world; in the season finale "The Cottage," we see Scott give a speech about how little he regrets this display of public adoration. This is precisely what makes "Heated Rivalry" so special — it's hot, but also incredibly heartfelt.

In the aftermath of Scott's grand romantic gesture, Shane and Ilya decide to spend two weeks at Shane's secluded country home (that titular cottage) but are suddenly interrupted, during a passionate embrace, by Shane's father David (Dylan Walsh). Shane and Ilya immediately go to see David and Shane's mom Yuna (Christina Chang) to explain, and though Shane's parents are understandably surprised, they're completely supportive of their son; in fact, Yuna cries only because Shane kept a secret from her for so many years. Not only that, but David and Yuna can see something important: Shane and Ilya are deeply and completely in love with each other.

A lesser show would put all its focus on the steamy sex scenes, and while "Heated Rivalry" definitely does feature quite a lot of those, "I'll Believe in Anything" might just be the first season's best episode and doesn't have any sex in it at all. Rather, the emotional core of "Heated Rivalry," guided by Jacob Tierney's extraordinarily capable hand as showrunner, is what kept people tuning in for those initial six weeks. Scott and Kip's romance is sexy and feels real, and the same is true of Shane and Ilya's forbidden romance. "Heated Rivalry" is a really beautifully made, written, and performed show that also happens to be a pretty direct and frank showcase of queer intimacy, and frankly, the world needs way more stories like this. It shouldn't surprise anybody who's watched "Heated Rivalry" that it emerged as one of 2025's very best shows despite premiering just as the year came to a close — and if you somehow haven't watched it, it's streaming on HBO Max now.