Since the Iowa Heartlanders joined the professional minor leagues a few years ago, the young team has had some struggles. Among them: they’re ranked second to last in their conference and, as of Feb. 26, have an 18-28 record.
Given their record, there are often plenty of open seats at their home turf of Xtreme Arena in Coralville.
But at a Friday night game this season, section 115 was packed with a group of young people, mostly women. The Heartlanders' theme for the game was Y2K night, and some supporters were fully committed in jewel-toned velour tracksuits. Oh, and many of them were fans of the romance novel-turned-steamy streaming series, Heated Rivalry. The story follows two competing (male) hockey players as they navigate their secret romantic relationship.
Season ticket holder Tiara Phillips wanted to introduce the new audience of hockey-curious people to her underdog team. She is also the creator of Bitchin’ Events, which collaborates with Iowa City venues to host crafts nights, mixers, book clubs, stuff swaps and other themed gatherings that bring people together for whimsical social nights. Phillips started organizing the events a year ago when she realized her friend, who worked from home, had few opportunities to make new friends.
She posted to her Bitchin’ Events Instagram page with a call-out to Heated Rivalry fans: “Have a sudden interest in hockey? Come support your local hockey team while meeting new people!” And just like that, in came the DMs.
“You tell yourself that you love something and you're really sad if it goes, and so I'm trying to prevent something from going,” Phillips said. “... I'm really just trying to bolster this team as much as I can, because it's a lot of fun. And I think the matter is people don't know it exists.”
As fans rolled in that night, Colin Underwood, Phillips’ boyfriend and — as he puts it — unpaid intern, declared that night as the best warm-up ever, because the new team captain had pointed him out in the crowd.
“He came up personally to hit the glass and wave at me because he recognizes me from Trader Joe's, and I'm honored,” he said.
Underwood, who works at the Trader Joe’s just a few blocks from Xtreme Arena, frequently sees the players at the grocery store and personally hypes them up when he does. He hung up a Heartlanders jersey in the frozen food aisle.
“Tiara and I are all about community, and one thing that we've found with minor league sports is it's so much more personal,” Underwood said. “It feels like a town team, a neighborhood team, where I see the guys all over, I see the fans all over.”
Mark Korvoer, a decorated superfan (he was literally decorated in deer antlers, a sequined jacket and a black and gold Heartlanders chain) led the crowd in some light taunting of the rival team. He’d periodically refresh his voice from yelling by sipping beer out of a long plastic flask resembling a hockey stick.
"The world's already negative as is, why add to it?” Korvoer said. “So if my weird antics — and letting the opposing goalie in the second period know he's a bum — if somebody gets a kick out of it ... I’ve done a good deed for the day.”
Phillips recruited 70 people with her Instagram account. Some were lapsed hockey fans who had supported different teams in the past while others had never been to a hockey game ever.
It was Donna Douangchampa’s first time at a Heartlanders game, but she was already telling a friend they should come more often. She likened the ice rink to a ‘boy aquarium,’ a comparison that’s common on TikTok.
“The stretches, the pounding on this glass, it's all here,” Douanchampa said. “It's all heart racing, just like Heated Rivalry.”
Heartlanders’ games are not for fair weather fans, and for Phillips and Underwood, showing their support win-or-lose is what it’s all about. Plus, Phillips said, they’re always fights.
“The more you lean into things earnestly, the more you'll enjoy them,” Underwood said. “Don't look at anything cynically. Don't look at anything as a win loss. You just show up, lean into it. As the guys are leaving after a tough loss, we're even more energized to slap the glass and give them thumbs up.”
But that night, the Heartlanders won! They beat the number one ranked team, the Kansas City Mavericks. Whether that’s the power of good athleticism, Heated Rivalry, or community, that's up for interpretation.
After the game, the Bitchin’ Events crew was invited out onto the ice. When they posed for a photo, Phillips turned around to show the “Heartlanders” bedazzled on her pants.
“There's so many cool things happening in other larger cities — why can't those things happen here?” said Phillips, who grew up in Iowa City. “I love this city. I want people to get together, and let's just create it. Here I am.”
