If you’ve been on BookTok for a while or you are an avid romance reader, you know that hockey romance is a very, very popular subgenre. However, it’s only recently been making a big splash on TV. Now, following the success of Heated Rivalry in 2025, a new book-to-screen adaptation of a romance series involving athletes who shoot a puck around will hit the 2026 TV schedule. So, with all that in mind, I was wondering why hockey romance is “so in” right now. Thankfully, the cast of this new show, Off Campus, shared their takes.
For context, like Heated Rivalry (which you can stream with an HBO Max subscription), Amazon Prime’s Off Campus is based on a book series that follows hockey players as they fall in love. However, instead of them being pros, they are in college. Season 1 of this series will follow the school’s team captain, Garrett, as he makes a deal to fake date a music major named Hannah. It’s your classic love story, and its source material, which is a book series written by Elle Kennedy, is a massive hockey romance hit.
So, while explaining why fans of Heated Rivalry will love Off Campus, Antonio Cipriano, who plays one of the main hockey players, John Logan, told ET:
Article continues belowWhat’s really attractive about hockey romance right now is being able to see these guys who are in this really brawny, really intense sport peel back the layers and see the emotional intelligence, see the tenderness behind that. I think that’s very romantic.
I think that’s true. In the case of Heated Rivalry, it was so beautiful to see Shane and Ilya fall in love and defy the expectations that are put on them and their sport. Along with that, the show challenged our understanding of masculinity, and it provided a wonderful queer romance to a mainstream audience.
The Off Campus books also tell stories of hockey players finding the loves of their lives, and with each season, we should get to follow a new athlete as he goes on an emotional and romantic journey. Adding to why people love that kind of story, Josh Heuston, who plays Justin (he's notably not a hockey player, he’s a musician), said:
I think it’s the same sort of love story; there’s passion in the sport, and there’s passion in the romance. And I think those things go hand-in-hand.
Well, we certainly saw that reign true in Heated Rivalry, and Season 2 will likely continue to do that. Off Campus easily could too, and according to Belmont Cameli – he plays the show’s lead hockey player, Garrett Graham – they want to ride the wave the sexually explicit HBO project created:
Look, man, there’s been love stories around sports for a really long time. It’s just nice that hockey has kind of splashed onto that scene. I think Heated Rivalry really struck a chord, and they deserve all the success they’ve had. And, you know, we’re happy to be in the same lane as them.
Between the passion, the subverting of expectations and the intensity that comes with a hockey romance, I can totally see why it’s becoming more than a book trend. That’s a point, Ella Bright, who plays Garrett’s love interest Hannah Wells, made as she said:
Hockey romance is so in; the world is ready, and we’re excited to be in that orbit of conversation.
I also think this is very true. It’s time for a sports romance era, and specifically, I’m very here for the hockey romance. The environment they’re set in is so fun and intense, it juxtaposes a sweet romance so well, and overall, it provides a wonderful framework for some sweet (and spicy) love stories.
Now, to see if Off Campus can maintain Heated Rivalry’s momentum and keep the hockey romance trend going, you can stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription on May 13.
