It’s been a big year for fans of hockey media and romance. First, Heated Rivalry took over the internet at the end of 2025. The Winter Olympics brought more hockey to the forefront in February 2026. Then, Off Campus — based on Elle Kennedy’s bestselling book series — had it’s Season 1 premiere in May and received great reception from fans. (Season 2 is premiering on April 28, 2027.) Could you ask for a better year? Well, 2027 may be the one to top, with a ton of Heated Rivalry news coming out about a potential Season 3 and a movie.
Heated Rivalry was one of the most unexpected shows of 2025, premiering at the very end of the year on Crave. HBO Max acquired the U.S. rights to the show and everything changed from there — fans became obsessed. The story is based on Rachel Reid’s book series, using the name of the second book to name the show. Following Canada’s Shane Hollander and Russia’s Ilya Rozanov, the premise of the first season centers on the relationship between Shane and Ilya over the course of about 10 years as Shane navigates his sexuality and falls in love with Ilya from a distance. The show was groundbreaking, giving sports representation to queer people in the ice hockey community, where stereotypes around sexuality have existed for years.Â
Fans were excited to learn that the series had been renewed for a Season 2, but now, according to Deadline, a third season and a movie are also reportedly in the works. (A rep for Crave could not confirm the news to Deadline.) This report follows the recent screenings of episodes of Heated Rivalry Season 1 in theaters, and the casting reveal of Charlie Gillespie (Julie and the Phantoms) and Justice Smith (Now You See Me: Now You Don’t) as new couple Troy Barrett and Harris Dover, from the book in the series entitled Role Model.
While a Heated Rivalry Season 3 hasn’t been announced yet, guest star Dylan Walsh said back in August in a Cameo video, “I think we’re doing 12 episodes this time.” However, series creator Jacob Tierney confirmed that Season 2 will consist of only six episodes like the original. The second season is confirmed to release in 2027, most likely in April, while the potential third season’s release date is TBD. (But six and six do make 12, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they shot both back-to-back!)
According to Deadline, there’s the news of a possible movie in the franchise. The report said, “Described as a Christmas special or a holiday-themed episode, it is planned for a theatrical release next December.” Knowing that, it’s possible the reported film would be an adaptation of Reid’s short story on Scott Hunter and Kip Grady called Merry Christmas, Scott and Kip!
Regardless of whether or not the report is true, the franchise is doing well, and the amount of memes and content it’s inspired since it’s release nearly a year ago is one of the most impactful since the start of the 2020s. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Shane and Ilya, and I can’t wait to learn about Troy and Harris as well!Â
You can stream Season 1 of Heated Rivalry on HBO Max and Crave now, and you can buy the books in the Game Changers series anywhere books are sold.