'Heated Rivalry' Shut Out of Emmys Despite Record-Breaking HBO Max Run

The gay hockey drama 'Heated Rivalry' is absent from this year's Emmy nominations despite its massive streaming success — and the reason is a technicality rooted in production financing. The Television Academy requires a series to be creatively and financially co-produced with a U.S.-based partner to qualify for the Primetime Emmys. Because 'Heated Rivalry' was fully financed and produced by Bell Media for Crave, Canada's homegrown streaming platform, it doesn't meet that threshold. HBO Max only acquired U.S. distribution rights after production had already wrapped, which isn't enough to confer co-production status in the Academy's eyes. The show is instead eligible for the International Emmy Awards.

The stakes of this exclusion are significant given the show's performance. Adapted from Rachel Reid's novel by Canadian filmmaker Jacob Tierney — who both wrote and directed the series — 'Heated Rivalry' debuted on HBO Max in the U.S. and Australia in November 2025 and promptly broke records, racking up over 10.6 million views in the U.S. alone. That made it the platform's top acquired scripted series of all time, a remarkable achievement for a show that HBO Max didn't have a hand in making.

The series, which stars Connor Storrie as the haughty Russian-born Ilya and Hudson Williams as the reserved Canadian Shane, has already been renewed for a second season set to premiere in spring 2027 on both HBO Max and Crave. Season 2 is expected to follow Reid's sequel novel 'The Long Game' and will be produced by Crave alongside Accent Aigu Entertainment.

Meanwhile, the 2026 Emmy race is shaping up with medical drama 'The Pitt' leading all nominees at 25 nods, followed by 'Hacks,' which concluded its fifth and final season this year. Mariska Hargitay will host the ceremony, airing live on NBC and Peacock on September 14.