How Charlotte Checkers hockey fans and romance lovers embraced ‘Heated Rivalry’
Probably for the first time, but definitely not the last, Bojangles Coliseum officially became Charlotte’s “Boy Aquarium” Friday night.
The Charlotte Checkers hosted its first Book Club Night in partnership with Trope Bookshop, uniting 450 hockey fans and sports romance lovers. Hosting a book club night is a trend skating across all hockey rinks with the rise of hockey romance novels and the runaway hit show “Heated Rivalry” based on the queer “Game Changers” series from Rachel Reid.
The book series and show features queer professional hockey players falling in love but struggling with their sexual identities in a sport that isn’t known to be queer-friendly.
But long before the popular show aired on HBO Max in December, the Checkers knew it had to reach the long-growing sports romance fans.
“It’s bringing a new demographic into hockey,” said Annie Eagle, vice president of sales for the Checkers. “There’s not a lot of women who come to hockey games, and we knew that this was going to be the opportunity to get them to come … Sports romance novels have really brought those two communities together.”
The Checkers’ growing fandom
There are thousands of sports romance novels on the market and hockey is the dominate sport with over 700 hockey romance options, according to Goodreads.
And the books are increasing real life hockey fandom.
According to Sports Illustrated, after the “Heated Rivalry” show aired, tickets to hockey games grew by 40% on StubHub. And speaking with Jon Weinstein, the National Hockey League’s chief communications officer, SI noted that the league’s social media pages exploded with new followers.
It gained an 83% increase in TikTok fans and 114% increase on Twitter.
“Anytime hockey’s in popular culture, that’s a good thing for us,” said Checkers President Shawn Lynch. Lynch can’t definitively say sports romances are driving ticket sales — but it doesn’t hurt.
What is helping sales has been the Checkers’ success and Charlotte’s growing population.
Last year, the Checkers almost clutched the Calder Cup trophy for the second time in franchise history under the American Hockey League banner. And the Checkers are affiliated with the Florida Panthers, who are back-to-back Stanley Cup winners.
Since many of the 157 people moving to Charlotte daily hail from places with strong hockey teams, like New York and Chicago, Eagle said the newbies check out Checkers games to continue their fandom.
This season, attendance is up over 5% and the team is seeing a 10% increase in overall revenue from last year.
Back to the Checkers’ Book Club
Book Club Night was originally set in January but a Charlotte snowstorm postponed the night to last Friday.
In January, the Checkers sold 400 promotional tickets, which included a tote bag and a drink ticket for a before-game happy hour. That increased to 450 at the mid-March game. The promotion earned the Checkers well over $20,000, according to Lynch.
The book community turned Ovens Auditorium into the “cottage” where the lovers of “Heated Rivalry” meet, minus the tuna melts.
Donned in Checkers red or with nods to the fictional “Heated Rivalry” teams Montreal Metros and Boston Raiders (IYKYK), the booked lovers filled the room.
Trope held a popup book sale, with all the sports romance novels. And Checkers center Gracyn Sawchyn visited the fans for a photo op.
Here’s who we met at the Checker’s ‘aquarium’
Cheryl Campbell had the hat trick of interests for the night. Not only is she a sports romance fan, she is a sports romance writer and a Checkers season ticket holder.
For Campbell, sports romances hold a special place in her heart because of the banter. It provides funny locker room talk minus the misogyny. Campbell’s “Decker Connection” series is inspired by the Savannah Bananas.
But she has a hockey series coming up.
“I’ve been a season ticket holder for several years,” Campbell said. “Some of my books have been inspired by the Checkers. This is my research. So as I’m watching some of their antics on the bench, don’t think that’s not getting put into the books.”
Anne Auger was attending her first hockey game with friends Megan Minard and Amy Vickers.
Vickers has been a long time hockey fan, having lived in Nashville and rooting for the Predators. And her father-in-law is a season ticket holder with the Checkers.
For the trio, out of all the sports romance novels, hockey is their favorite topic. Mainly because when the hockey scenes are described in the book, its fast-paced and action packed.
“This is my type of sport,” Minard said. “Jokingly, I say it’s a blood sport. There is just a slight amount of aggressiveness and it’s constant pace.”
The trio are avid romance and spicy readers but also have a love for fantasy and science fiction. Vickers is currently reading “Dungeon Crawler Carl” and Auger just finished “Project Hail Mary.”
But romance is having its heyday.
“For a long time romance was stuck in the back shelves, and you hid it when you were buying those books and didn’t want to be seen,” Vickers said. “Then people were, what is wrong with romance? Romance puts women’s interests first, and it gives us storylines that intrigue us and strong female heroines.”
Charlotte’s affair with romance books
Katie Mitchell, owner of Trope Bookshop, agrees.
Trope is romance only, and just celebrated its first brick-and-mortar anniversary at 1516 Lyon Ct. changed off of Central Avenue.
“Romance sales make up 25% of book sales right now,” Mitchell said. “I think a lot of times anything that women are into is perceived as being frivolous or silly … But romance is a multibillion-dollar business every year. It’s not niche. It’s not weird. It’s not embarrassing.”
Mitchell is looking forward to teaming up with the Checkers again. Especially as hockey romance continues to dominate the landscape.
“Hockey is kind of like the original sports romance,” Mitchell laughed. And yes, Trope has some of the “Game Changer” series in stock.
Checkers ice out the Islanders
Besides book lovers discussing their book boyfriends and favorite tropes there was a hockey game Friday night.
The Checkers (35-18) faced the Bridgeport Islanders (24-27) Friday for the start of a two-series divisional game.
The Checkers iced the Islanders, 3-0, with scores from Ben Steeves, Brett Chorske and Sandis Vilmanis. Goalie Louis Domingue earned his first shutout of the season, fending off the Islanders with 18 saves.
Saturday’s game was the same.
The Checkers swept the Islanders, 2-0, with goals from Jack Studnicka and a late score in the third period from Tobias Bjornfot with 30 seconds left on the clock. Kirill Gerasimyuk secured his fourth shutout of the season, a franchise record for a rookie.
The Checkers are third in the Atlantic division behind the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Providence Bruins, who already clinched a playoff spot.
With 14 games left in the season, the Checkers are on their way to another playoff run. The Checkers play the Hartford Wolfpack at home March 17 at 7 p.m.
There won’t be another book club night this season, but next year expect a bigger event with maybe a special author or two.
“I love having these events that are outside the book store but for the book community,” Vickers said.
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 5:05 AM with the headline "How Charlotte Checkers hockey fans and romance lovers embraced ‘Heated Rivalry’."
