When Fiction Outpaces Reality in Sports

The Show That Made Hockey Cool Again

20 percent. That's how much female interest in hockey has surged in just 60 days. The catalyst wasn't a championship game or a viral TikTok—it was a Canadian drama about closeted gay hockey players that has seemingly conquered the world.

Heated Rivalry, following the romance between rival players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, has broken viewing records across 15+ countries since HBO picked it up for US distribution. Viewership has more than doubled since the finale, with fans buying character merchandise, NHL ticket sales rising, and the Ottawa Senators even selling themed jerseys (proceeds benefit the city's LGBTQ+ rec league).

The timing couldn't be more perfect—or more ironic. As the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics unfold amid this hockey fever, with both lead actors serving as torch bearers, the show's success has thrown a spotlight on professional hockey's complicated relationship with LGBTQ+ inclusion.

The Last Closet in Professional Sports

Here's the uncomfortable truth: despite hockey's fictional embrace of gay love stories, the NHL remains the only major professional sports league without a single openly gay active player. While other leagues have seen players come out, hockey's locker rooms stay firmly closeted.

The league's actions tell a complex story. In June 2023, the NHL banned specialty-themed jerseys, including Pride sweaters, though it later reversed the decision on tape after Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott openly flouted the ban. The jersey ban remains in place.

Harrison Browne, the first openly trans professional hockey player, embodies this contradiction. He was "embraced" by the NHL as an ambassador for its Hockey Is For Everyone initiative, dropping pucks at Madison Square Garden and speaking at All-Star panels. Yet he never felt safe playing in men's leagues.

"I was afraid of the men's side because of the homophobic, transphobic, misogynist language that I heard in dressing rooms," Browne explains. "I didn't feel like that was a safe space for me as a trans man."

When Politics Meets Pucks

The stakes have gotten higher. USA Hockey recently reversed its 2019 inclusive policy, implementing new rules that restrict trans players to programs matching their "sex assigned at birth." The policy, effective April 1st, means Browne can't even play recreational "beer league" games with his former teammates.

"We can't really overlook the fact that the current [Trump] administration is really putting a lot of pressure on sports leagues, withholding funding, other types of threats if they don't come up with policies that exclude trans people," Browne notes.

This isn't just about hockey. Trump campaigned against gender diversity policies in 2024 and signed several anti-trans executive orders early in his second term, making sports a new battleground in America's culture wars.

The Performance of Progress

The NHL's enthusiastic embrace of Heated Rivalry has drawn criticism from academics who study hockey culture. "Where's your gay friend on your team?" asks Teresa Fowler, an associate professor at Concordia University of Edmonton. "It just seems so hypocritical when people are saying, 'Yeah, we would welcome them,' and yet, the person who they call their brother is too afraid to bare their soul."

Fowler's research with elite players reveals a culture still rooted in "sexism rituals" and hazing that demeans women and LGBTQ+ individuals. Meanwhile, Hockey Canada has faced scandals involving sexual assault settlements funded by player registration fees.

Yet there are signs of change. Commissioner Gary Bettman says he "binged" Heated Rivalry in one night, and the league maintains partnerships with Pride organizations across North America and Australia. The third annual Pride Cup is scheduled for 2026.

The Entertainment-Reality Gap

What makes this moment fascinating isn't just the show's success, but what it reveals about society's appetite for LGBTQ+ stories versus its willingness to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people. Millions will cheer for fictional gay hockey players while real ones remain invisible.

François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter in the series, captured this tension perfectly, calling out the NHL for "capitalizing" on the show's popularity while questioning whether it's "backed up by actual openness to diversity."