NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, 73, recently told Hockey News that he binge-watched the first season of HBO Max’s queer hockey drama “Heated Rivalry” and thought it was “a great story.”
“The content – especially for young people – can be a bit spicy, so you have to balance that with how you take it,” he said.
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Bateman added: “I think the storyline is very compelling. And it’s fun because I can see where they pick and choose what we want.” [as a league] Things that have been done in the past, whether it was in Sochi or the All-Star Game in Tampa. Very well done. “
“The Rivalry” has experienced a surge in popularity since it premiered on HBO Max in late November 2025. The show, based on Rachel Reed’s Game Changers book series, follows Shawn Holland (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Story), two budding hockey stars who have a secret, years-long romance off the ice. The show has been renewed for a second season.
In a testament to the show’s universal appeal, stars Williams and Story carried the Olympic torch at the 2026 Milan Cortina Relays in Feltre, Italy, on Sunday. They also made an appearance at the Golden Globe Awards, escorted on stage by two UFC fighters. In the days following the Golden Globes, Williams traveled to Milan for Men’s Fashion Week, where he walked the Dsquared2 show and attended the Giorgio Armani show.
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Williams recently said on the “Shut Up Evan” podcast that the sudden fame was difficult to navigate. “I was just talking to one of my agents yesterday and she said Connor and I have to understand what a lot of actors get over five years, about 30 days,” he said.
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