Recently, the NHL has been enjoying a surge in popularity among a non-traditional hockey audience. Beginning slowly with the rise in demand for hockey romance books, the trend of visiting the “boy aquarium,” and culminating in the release of “Heated Rivalry,” now the top-rated non-animated acquired series on HBO Max, which has accumulated more than 600 million streaming minutes. Even with the hit series’ notable focus off the ice, many fans are channeling their interest into real-life hockey, following the conclusion of the show.
While it should not be a surprise due to the central conflict of “Heated Rivalry,” hockey is a sport that comes with baggage; one that has not always been a welcoming place, and still has a lot of work to do to become one. There is a long history of misogynistic and homophobic behavior from the league, from the pervasive use of homophobic slurs, to countless sexual assault scandals, to the banning of Pride tape in 2023.
But hockey is for everyone. This is more than just an NHL slogan made to sell tickets; it is true, and it is becoming more relevant as the demographics of hockey shift toward previously excluded groups. The NHL has been facing falling ratings for years, meaning new fans have the power here.
The hometown team is a good place to start. On the surface, the Philadelphia Flyers do not have the best track record with LGBTQ issues, being that Ivan Provorov was a Flyers defenseman when he boycotted Pride Night (eventually snowballing to the banning of Pride tape altogether), but at the same time, the Flyers roster contained Scott Laughton, one of the most outspokenly supportive players in the league. The Flyers have since traded both players, but the team has made an effort to prove that the attitude of the latter represents them.
The Flyers still hold Pride Nights now, this season’s having fallen just a few days ago on Jan. 12th. The outside of the arena was lit up rainbow, inside the stands were packed with people in Flyers Pride gear or waving little pride flags, Gritty did the “HOT TO GO” dance, and a lesbian couple kissed on the Jumbotron to a chorus of applause.
It was clear many of the fans were drawn to the night by “Heated Rivalry,” evidenced by crowds of young women, people wearing Ilya Rozanov or Shane Hollander T-shirts and jerseys, and most obviously, when a couple seconds of t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said” (a song featured in “Heated Rivalry”) played, causing the stadium to devolve into shrieks.
While most of this is silly, crowd-pleasing stunts, it still demonstrates a much more welcoming environment to LGBTQ fans compared to just a few years ago, and a big part of that has been fans flocking from “Heated Rivalry.” For the future of hockey to really live up to the promise of being for everyone, this momentum has to continue, to change an entrenched culture not only in the stadium but in locker rooms, online, and on the ice.