Sports romances are more popular onscreen than ever before, and these are six upcoming TV shows and movies in the genre to look forward to. There’s something magical that happens when you smash together the adrenaline and competition of sports with the passion of romance. Sports romances have been around since before the turn of the century, with hit films like The Cutting Edge and Jerry Maguire being cult classic rom-coms. However, the genre is currently booming in writing and on-screen, with some of the best sports romances created in the past ten years.
Thanks to the popularity of sports romances on BookTok, and especially hockey romances, streamers started picking up rights to books in the genre. Crave and HBO’s Heated Rivalry became a bona fide worldwide phenomenon. Finding Her Edge got great numbers on Netflix, and season 2 is on the way. Prime Video’s Off Campus tells spicy stories about the hockey players on the Briar University college team and the women who capture their hearts. Luckily, there’s no sign of this trend stopping any time soon. Fans of the genre can look forward to these six sports romance TV shows and movies in the works.
7 Glory Days (Netflix)
In early 2026, Deadline announced Gossip Girl EP/writer/spinoff showrunner Josh Safran was developing a sports romance called Glory Days for Netflix. Glory Days is one of the only sports romances in development that isn’t based on a book. Instead, it is a story developed by creator Josh Safran for the screen, and it sounds extremely exciting, despite there being little information available.
The show centers on an annual summer event where college baseball players come to Cape Cod to prove they’re worth being recruited by Major League Baseball. The top baseball players, coaches, and locals have the summer of their lives. Glory Days will be packed with secrets, sex, and colliding futures.
The Netflix show is still in early development, but it sounds like a fun, breezy sports romance filled with drama, set in a picturesque and beachy location. If anyone’s capable of creating a dramatic storyline, it’s Safran. Gossip Girl is one of the most dramatic and ridiculous TV shows of the late 2000s, and I say that in a complimentary way. Additionally, the college-student angle will be appealing following Off-Campus's success.
6 Gods Of The Game (Amazon MGM)
In April 2026, news broke that the Gods of the Game books by Ana Huang will be turned into a movie trilogy. This sets it apart from most sports romances coming to the screen, as they’re primarily becoming TV shows. However, Gods of the Game fits a movie format better.
Each novel features a different couple with very few connections other than their shared sports league. The book trilogy is three interconnected spicy romances set in the English Premier League. The first two books in the series, The Defender and The Striker, are already out, and they’re incredibly entertaining. The third book, The Keeper, will come out in October 2026.
There isn't a ton of news at the time of writing. We’re still waiting to find out the actors and movie release timelines. However, Variety shared two promising pieces of information. Firstly, Gods of the Game is being produced by Premeditated Productions, which is working on several BookTok-favorite adaptations, including Fourth Wing and A Stage Set for Villains. Additionally, Ana Huang will serve as an executive producer.
5 See You At The Finish Line (Unknown)
Author Zac Hammett wrote a queer sports romance featuring rowing and one of the world’s oldest college rivalries, and now it’s been picked up for a TV show by Noho Film & Television.
Hammett's See You at the Finish Line centers on Lucas, a smart, working-class rower, and George, the rich, irresponsible team captain. The two Cambridge teammates hate each other, but they are forced into a deal that benefits both of them ahead of the Oxford-Cambridge competition. One needs academic help. The other needs dating help. However, their deal leads to an outcome neither of them could predict.
The TV adaptation doesn’t have a streaming home yet, and there is almost no information about the team behind it, other than Robert Wulff-Cochrane and Camilla Campbell, the two individuals running Noho Film & Television. However, the book has all the ingredients for a great spicy, LGBTQ+ rom-com. Plus, it has the same appeal as Red, White, & Royal Blue, the movie adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s bestselling novel.
4 Eventing (Amazon MGM)
Sports romances, both in books and onscreen, typically focus on contact sports like hockey or American football, making adaptations centered on less popular sports all the more exciting. Amazon MGM acquired the rights to Natalie Keller Reinert’s hit equestrian romance series Eventing and Briar Hill Farm, which consists of 11 books and 1 novella total. It’s unclear whether they will combine them into a single show or two separate shows.
The books explore the world of high-stakes, competitive horseback riding. Jules Thornton is an aspiring competitive rider pursuing eventing – an equestrian triathlon with dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. She has no time for friends or romance. Similarly, Pete Morison, an heir to a prestigious horse farm, wants to win. He never meant to fall for Jules.
While Jules and Pete’s will-they-won’t-they relationship anchors the series, there are plenty of other characters whose roles could be fleshed out to make this more of an ensemble show about the romantic lives of professional equestrians. The good news is that Reinert is serving as an executive producer, per Variety’s announcement. She built the entire Ocala-verse, so she is the one to trust when adapting it for the screen.
3 Boys Of Tommen (Prime Video)
The bestselling Boys of Tommen novels by Chloe Walsh are a beloved Irish sports romance series in the new adult, not young adult, genre that delves into heavy themes such as addiction, trauma, mental illness, and bullying. The books focus on students at Tommen College in the fictional Ballylaggin in Cork County, Ireland. All the “boys” are athletes in rugby or hurling.
Based on news about season 1, each season will center on a different couple. The first features Johnny Kavanagh, the rugby star, and Shannon Lynch, a shy new girl at Tommen College. Both harbor secrets that could change everything. As a popular BookTok series, Boys of Tommen will be held to high standards, but everything looks promising.
The Prime Video original cast relatively unknown Irish actors to play the main characters, which is the ideal choice. The actors get the chance to shine without past roles shifting audience expectations, and the audience isn’t stuck with terrible fake Irish accents. Additionally, Nicole Clemens, VP of International Originals at Prime Video, promised that the script would explore the same heavy themes with the same authenticity as the books (via Women’s World), rather than toning them down.
2 Windy City (Amazon MGM)
Rather than focusing on a specific sport, the Windy City book series by Liz Tomforde centers on a group of friends and their love stories. Each of them just so happens to involve sports. The books Mile High and Rewind It Back are hockey romances. Right Moves is a basketball romance. Meanwhile, Play Along and Caught Up are baseball romances. All the books are sexy, and the series as a whole ranks around four out of five spicy peppers.
Like many other romances, each book has a different central couple. Outside the romantic pairings, Windy City has themes of found family and mental health that feel perfect for an ensemble TV show. Unlike many upcoming sports romances, Windy City is 100% an adult series rather than YA or new adult.
Not much is known about the upcoming series, since it was only announced in May 2026, but it already feels like the perfect choice for a sports romance TV show. On top of that, Entangled Publishing CEO Liz Pelletier said the TV show is extending the stories while protecting their integrity (via Brit + Co), which is a good sign for book fans.
1 Playing The Field (Amazon MGM)
Following Heated Rivalry, LGBTQ+ sports romances are getting more attention than ever. Luckily, Sapphic folks are getting their turn with the Amazon MGM show adaptation of Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner, which is like Heated Rivalry and Ted Lasso smushed together. The book focuses on the grumpy soccer veteran Grace and the sunny newcomer Phoebe, rivals vying for the same spot on their team. However, the TV show is titled Playing the Field, expanding the story into an ensemble piece anchored by Phoebe and Grace’s will-they-won’t-they relationship.
Cleat Cute is similar to Heated Rivalry as a spicy LGBTQ+ rivals-to-lovers story told in a joyful way. Additionally, both stories include meaningful neurodivergent representation, with Shane being autistic, as confirmed by author Rachel Reid and actor Hudson Williams (via TIME), and with Grace and Phoebe being canonically autistic and having unmedicated ADHD, respectively. It’s meaningful to see queer, neurodivergent characters given the same right to love as everyone else.
Additionally, Cleat Cute was marketed to Ted Lasso fans thanks to its cheerful and optimistic outlook, passion for soccer/football, and sense of humor. This comparison became even more relevant because the TV show Playing the Field will feature multiple folks on the New Orleans soccer team.