The NHL wants to capitalize on Heated Rivalry’s fandom success

Hot hockey players are driving more views for the NHL–and we’re not just talking about the real guys out on the ice.

We’re talking about Heated Rivalry, the Peabody Award-winning TV adaptation of Rachel Reid‘s hit m/m romance novel. Starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, the Crave-produced show became a fandom sensation shortly after dropping in November 2025. It’s not hard to see why: Williams and Storrie have stellar chemistry in their lead roles as anxious Canadian Shane Hollander and suave Russian Ilya Rozanov, rival captains of their respective hockey teams.

Just like we saw with Yuri!!! on ICE for the 2018 Winter Olympics and even the recent gacha horse girl game Umamusume: Pretty Derby, fictional sports stories can drive fan interest in real sports leagues.

And the NHL is taking notice.

That’s because it just hit its best viewership figures in 14 years. In its most recent season, games aired across ESPN, ABC, and TNT brought an average of 546,000 viewers, which was a 23% increase over the previous season.

Can we automatically say that increase is solely because of Heated Rivalry‘s success? No. But data from research firm EDO showed that brands running ads against hockey coverage in the U.S. saw campaign effectiveness raise 7% after Heated Rivalry took off. That effectiveness was specifically around consumers searching for products right after an ad aired–meaning people were not only actively watching, but engaging with ads.

Per Digiday, the NHL’s marketing team is looking to capitalize on this moment and turn casual and curious Rivalry-pilled viewers into lifelong hockey fans. It’s focusing mainly on Europe; for example, Jaka Lednik, the NHL’s SVP of International Strategy, told Digiday that Germany is of particular interest, and the NHL thinks it could be a “second level” of sports fandom, after soccer.

The push includes the NHL hosting and streaming more games in Europe. Two upcoming matches will pit the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks against one another in Düsseldorf this December.

“We think there’s an opportunity to grow the sport for everyone,” Lednik said.

But IRL events aren’t the marketing team’s only focus. Their strategy also, of course, includes one central hub for Rivalry’s fandom: TikTok.

Per Digiday, the NHL has seen its most social media success on TikTok. Its European account, which has 2 million followers, just hit 1 billion lifetime views. During the most recent season, the account’s videos (a mix of moments from matches, behind-the-scenes clips, and off-the-ice chats with players) reached an average of 1.16 million views.

“Where [TikTok has] been really beneficial is in supporting our broadcasters in each of the markets,” Lednik said. “We’re able to drive tune-in, you know, make sure that people are aware of what’s happening when on our partners channels.”

Analyst Nicole Greene told Digiday that the NHL’s social strategy–connecting on TikTok, paying attention to Heated Rivalry (take notes, Canada Dry)–is “the new playbook” for sports leagues.

“Leagues are targeting international expansion and younger audiences through digital content and strategic partnerships,” she said. “If the NHL can use TikTok for what it’s best at–as a short-form, discovery-first channel within a multichannel strategy, prioritizing paid distribution, platform-native short videos, creator partnerships, shoppable media and measurement that ties social activity to on-site conversion–[all] that can help build its brand strength.”