Heated Rivalry is so popular Russians are breaking the law to watch it
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams have several steamy scenes together in Heated Rivalry. (Crave)
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams have several steamy scenes together in Heated Rivalry. (Crave)
Heated Rivalry is becoming such a global sensation, Russian fans are defying the country’s LGBTQ+ propaganda laws just to watch it.
The Canadian romantic sports drama series has quickly become one of the biggest television sensations since its release in November.
Based on an instalment of author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, the show follows two rival professional hockey players as they develop feelings for one another and enjoy a multi-year-long secret love story.
With an IMDB rating of 9.1 out of 10 and a Rotten Tomatoes “Tomatometer” score of 98 per cent, Heated Rivalry has quickly become one of the biggest and most discussed shows of 2026.
It is so popular, in fact, that it has broken through the Russian Federation’s homophobic censorship laws and has become a sensation.
Writing for Vanity Fair, Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar wrote that the show has enjoyed “extraordinary success” in the eastern-European country despite its absence from any Russian streaming platform.
Zygar pointed instead to Kinopoisk, the Russian equivalent of Rotten Tomatoes. Heated Rivalry currently has a rating of 8.6, one of the highest ratings on the site, from over 30,385 viewers.
Telegram channels dedicated to Russian fans of the series have also seen mass interest, with some reaching over 34,000 subscribers.
While it’s difficult to know how much of this interest is legitimate or quantify how widespread the Heated Rivalry fandom is across Russia, the show has definitively broken through the country’s “gay propaganda” laws.
How are Russians watching Heated Rivalry?
Initially passed in 2013, Russia’s law banning LGBTQ+ content, colloquially known as the “gay propaganda law, was brought under the pretences of “protecting children” from “propaganda for nontraditional sexual relationships”.
That law was expanded upon in 2022 to cover all content regardless of age. Those found guilty of promoting or engaging with LGBTQ+ media can face fines of up to 400,000 rubles (£3,790) and 5 million rubles (£47,378) for organisations.
Despite the potential legal ramifications for doing so, viewers and fans have defied the law by continuing to watch Heated Rivalry in a mulitude of ways.
One way, which is increasingly popular according to Russian fans, is through the Heated Rivalry Telegram channels, several of which will regularly upload episodes, clips, or content for the show.
This can be risky depending on the trackability of a user’s account. As a result, many Russian users resort to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) which encrypt a user’s IP address, protecting data such as their location or other vital information from trackers.
VPNs, while incredibly useful, are one of the reasons why it is so difficult to quantify just how popular Heated Rivalry is in Russia, since users will likely mask their internet footprint to access the show.
Many Russian fans have also cited piracy, either through streaming or torrenting sites, as a way to access the show safely and securely.
A torrent for the entire first season of Heated Rivalry currently has over 500 seeders – a user who has downloaded the file and is sharing it for others to download – on one of Russia’s biggest piracy sites.
Pirate streaming sites have also begun offering encrypted streaming domains, allowing users to watch the series without fear of being caught.
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