If you had an FYP and a pulse in the month of December, you probably saw at least a few videos of straight male hockey podcasters going gaga for Heated Rivalry. As the queer romance show became a massive phenomenon, multiple hockey podcasts started watching along and got just as hooked as everyone else. It was all fun and games until Thursday, when an OutSports report claimed that Dan Powers, co-host of the Empty Netters podcast, had privately disparaged the show in text messages. Naturally, he responded to the allegations, and somehow things are even messier now.
Who are the Empty Netters podcasters?
Empty Netters is hosted by brothers Dan and Chris Powers (the brunet and the blond, respectively), two guys who played hockey at an elite level in their youth and now have a fairly successful podcast dedicated to the sport. Their podcast has blown up in the past two months thanks to their coverage of Heated Rivalry, specifically the live watch-alongs in which they gasp, yell, and root for Shane and Ilya to get down and dirty. The show has been undeniably huge for their podcast, with eight of their top ten videos on YouTube being some kind of Heated Rivalry coverage.
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— owl 🚌EXTEND GENO (@twylautism) December 30, 2025
Perhaps tellingly, when deciding which straight-guy hockey show to appear on, Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid and the show’s creator, Jacob Tierney (both real-life hockey fans), opted to make appearances on What Chaos instead of Empty Netters. Just something to consider.
