If the new face emoji had been a TV present, it will 100% be HBO Max’s viral sensation Heated Rivalry. For the reason that sequence premiered in November 2025, followers have been dwelling in a near-feral state of hockey-romance limbo, which has (not surprisingly) sparked nonstop dialog concerning the spicy sports activities romance’s future. However will we be getting extra Workforce Hollanov face-offs within the type of a second season? It’s excellent news, followers: Heated Rivalry Season 2 is within the works!
However with a lot speak concerning the present swirling on-line, it’s exhausting to parse what we really know and what’s nonetheless TBD. So, right here’s a practical rundown of every little thing that’s been mentioned — or hinted at — to this point.
Is Season 2 formally taking place?
When you’re within the temper to rejoice, go forward and put the champagne on ice… as a result of we’ll *undoubtedly* see our hockey heroes Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) again on ice as effectively.
Crave, the Canadian streaming service chargeable for Heated Rivalry, confirmed a second season again in December. HBO Max additionally confirmed the sequence will return for U.S. streaming. And, much more thrilling, there’s a really robust chance that the present will stretch effectively past a second season.
For starters, Williams and Storrie have each reportedly signed on for 3 seasons, in keeping with GQ Hype. There’s additionally the truth that the present relies on Canadian author Rachel Reid’s bestselling, soon-to-be-seven-book series Game Changers. Heated Rivalry relies on and takes its title from the second novel within the sequence, which was printed in 2019. This, in fact, signifies that there’s loads extra supply materials (extra on that in a minute!).
Lastly, the present has the form of wildly passionate fanbase and on-line engagement that usually bodes effectively for future renewals.
When will Season 2 premiere?
It’s nonetheless means too early for a launch date. Nevertheless, we do have no less than a bit perception right into a timeline. Chatting with Variety, Williams talked about that filming may kick off in “July or August,” which might possible put the earliest launch for the present in late 2026.
Feedback made by present creator Jacob Tierney appear to recommend that timeline may very well be potential, however we is also , like, early 2027. Tierney informed Variety in a December interview, “It will probably’t be identical time subsequent 12 months as a result of this time final 12 months, I’d written 5 of those [scripts], and this time this 12 months I’ve written zero of them.”
What may Season 2 be about?
OK, time to circle again to Reid’s e book sequence. So, Heated Rivalry attracts its materials from Reid’s second novel by the identical title, which clearly focuses on the beginning of Shane and Ilya’s rivals-to-secret-lovers relationship. Tierney informed Collider that Season 2 will look to the sixth e book in Reid’s sequence, The Lengthy Sport, as its “foundational doc.”
What does that imply, precisely? Whereas we possible gained’t get any strong particulars for some time, the e book itself offers us no less than an thought of what we’re working with — and The Lengthy Sport actually expands Shane and Ilya’s relationship past secret hookups to discover what sustained intimacy appears like, particularly below the highlight of public scrutiny. Can their love survive the stress that comes with pursuing big-time hockey careers? What kind of skilled sacrifices will they must make? What are the rewards, but additionally the prices, of selecting one another overtly?
Suffice it to say, there will probably be some heavier stuff coming for Workforce Hollanov.
“I believe a part of that’s there’s undoubtedly a component of unhappiness to what’s coming, of loneliness and of isolation,” Tierney informed the Shut Up Evan podcast. “Of Ilya studying so much about himself, and Shane studying so much about himself too.”
Who would return for Season 2?
Casting particulars stay unannounced, but it surely’s fairly clear primarily based on Tierney’s feedback that any continuation would come with Shane and Ilya, aka real-life Williams and Storrie. Another casting hypothesis stays simply that for now: hypothesis.
And though the prospect of not seeing any of the forged in new episodes for one more 12 months (or extra) feels unlucky, no less than we stay within the period of streaming, the place we are able to watch each episode of Season 1 on repeat till Shane and Ilya’s hockey romance skates again onto our screens.
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