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Heated Rivalry is going all in on physical media.
The hit Crave series, which airs in the U.S. on HBO Max, is set to release the show on Blu-ray and DVD, along with a collector’s edition. Fans of the Canadian queer hockey drama can pre-order now on Amazon, and according to the Amazon listing, can expect to receive the physical edition of the series in April 2027.
Heated Rivalry: Season One (Collector’s Edition – 4K / Blu-ray)
The special collector’s Blu-ray edition currently has a temporary cover and the final art set to be revealed later in the summer, according to the current photo on Amazon. The regular Blu-ray and DVD appear to have the show’s main poster as the cover.
The cover for the show’s creator Jacob Tierney’s upcoming book was also released earlier today. I’ll Believe in Anything: The Making of Heated Rivalry will be released in October and is an official and complete collection of annotated scripts from season one of the groundbreaking series, which are based on author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series.
Heated Rivalry: Season One (Blu-ray)
The book, released in partnership with Brendan Brady and Accent Aigu, is set to feature behind-the-scenes photos, stories and never-before-seen content. The annotations will be on scene directions, intimacy choreography, costume insights, along with more.
The official synopsis for the book reads: “I’ll Believe in Anything takes readers behind the curtain, showing how Tierney, his producing partner Brendan Brady, and the entire Accent Aigu team drew on a deep reverence for Reid’s work, impeccable casting, clever sets and costume design and thoughtful sex scene choreography to both rewrite the playbook for adapting romance novels to the screen and obliterate the long-held misconception that queer love stories have limited appeal.”
Heated Rivalry: Season One (DVD)
The book, which features a forward by Reid, promises to answer a slew of questions for fans. Some of those questions, according to the product description, include: “How did Tierney interweave Ilya and Shane’s rivalry with Scott and Kip’s love story to create the ultimate television moment? Where did the idea for that incredible Canadian Olympic fleece originate? And what does it look like for a full team, led by Tierney and Brady, to plan, choreograph and film some of the best sex scenes in television history?”
Speaking of the Heated Rivalry fleece, preorder sales for the jacket inspired by the Team Canada jacket worn by Hudson Williams’ Shane Hollander in the series are set to begin tomorrow morning (June 3). The limited-edition jacket will exclusively be available to purchase on the Province of Canada website and 10 percent of the net profits for the jacket will benefit You Can Play, a nonprofit that works to advance LGBTQIA+ inclusion in sport.
Despite being worn by a fictional hockey player, the very real NHL and the National Hockey League Players’ Association will each match contributions for every jacket sale, up to $25,000 CAD per organization for a combined total of $50,000 CAD, according to a release. Those contributions will directly support You Can Play’s mission.
I’ll Believe in Anything: The Making of Heated Rivalry Season 1 (The Annotated Scripts)
Hailing from Canadian streamer Crave and airing on HBO Max in the U.S., Heated Rivalry centers on a fictional hockey universe based on the popular romance books by Reid. The show’s first season is based on the second novel, Heated Rivalry. Tierney created, wrote and directed the series.
Heated Rivalry focuses on two rival professional players — Canada-born Shane Hollander (Williams) of the fictitious Montreal Metros and Russia-born Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) of the fictitious Boston Raiders — as they navigate a near-decade-long situationship-turned-relationship. The show has made certified stars out of both Storrie and Williams.
In the months since the show’s premiere, the pair have presented at the Golden Globes, served as torchbearers in the 2026 Olympic Torch Relay, attended the Met Gala and each booked post-Heated Rivalry roles.
Crave renewed Heated Rivalry for a second season early into the show’s first season run. HBO Max has confirmed it will continue to air the series. The show is slated to shoot the second season this summer and is aiming for a spring 2027 release. The upcoming season will be based on the next installment of Shane and Ilya’s story in Reid’s novels, The Long Game, along with the fifth book in the series, Role Model.
The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Storrie was in talks to join the ensemble cast of Molly Gordon and SNL writer Allie Levitan’s A24 comedy Peaked. Next up, Williams can be found starring alongside Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid and Clark Backo in the half-hour Canadian drama Yaga, which is based on the play by Kat Sandler.
Reid announced earlier this year that she’ll be publishing her seventh book in the Game Changers series. The book, Unrivaled, will be the next chapter in Shane and Ilya’s story, which is set to be released in June 2027.
