What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Winners
Fredrik Backman · Book
If you loved The Winners, start with Heated Rivalry (Jacob Tierney, 2025) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 films, 3 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Winners across media.
What hooked you in The Winners was the way the immense pressure of sports acts as a crucible for human relationships.
Films on the same thread
Beast
Tyler Atkins · Film · 2026
Shares a thread with The Winners: sports drama.
Like The Winners, this story uses the brutal physical stakes of professional combat to explore the heavy toll that violence takes on the bond between brothers.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Olivia Newman · Film · 2026
Explores: Grief and healing, Intergenerational friendship, Hidden secrets.
If you appreciated the deep emotional landscape of The Winners, you will find a similar resonance in how this story navigates the quiet, transformative power of community.
The Hustler
Robert Rossen · Film · 1961
Shares a thread with The Winners: Sports Drama.
The Winners mirrors this classic study of ambition, capturing how a talent-driven life can quickly spiral into self-destruction when the lines between success and obsession blur.
Foxcatcher
Bennett Miller · Film · 2014
Shares a thread with The Winners: Sports Drama.
This film examines the same toxic obsession and power dynamics found in The Winners, showing how high-stakes athletic environments can dismantle the people caught within them.
Series on the same thread
Heated Rivalry
Jacob Tierney · Series · 2025
Explores: Rivalry, Forbidden Love, Career Ambition.
Just as The Winners focuses on the personal lives beneath the hockey jersey, this series explores how intense rivalry can paradoxically foster deep, complex, and forbidden connections.
The Bear
Christopher Storer · Series · 2022
Explores: Grief, Family Business, Working Class.
The Winners highlights how a group of people becomes a chosen family under pressure, a theme that drives the character-led drama and emotional discovery in this story.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
Jim Hecht · Series · 2022
Shares a thread with The Winners: Sports Drama.
Much like the sprawling world of The Winners, this series dissects the personal lives of a sports dynasty, revealing the complicated human costs of pursuing absolute greatness.
Podcasts on the same thread
Crime in Sports
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: athlete misconduct, legal absurdity, scandalous behavior.
If the darker side of athletic culture in The Winners fascinated you, this podcast provides a sharp, investigative look at the real-world consequences of sports-related misconduct.
The Archers
Podcast
Explores: family life, community, farming.
Fans of the small-town community dynamics in The Winners will recognize that same dedication to the intricate, serialized relationships that define everyday life in a close-knit environment.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Winners the final book in the Beartown series?
Yes, The Winners is the third and final book in the Beartown series. It concludes the narrative arc established in the previous installments regarding the intense rivalries between the two hockey-obsessed towns and the escalating violence that occurs off the ice.
What order should I read The Winners in?
You should read The Winners after completing the first two books in the Beartown series. As the third installment, it follows the established history and ongoing conflicts between the two rival towns that serve as the foundation for the plot.
Does The Winners focus on hockey?
Yes, The Winners centers on the lives of people in two hockey-obsessed towns. The narrative explores how the intense rivalries surrounding the sport escalate into significant violence off the ice, impacting the community and the individuals living within it.
How does the plot of The Winners escalate?
The Winners depicts a progression where the deep-seated rivalries between two hockey-obsessed towns move beyond the sport itself. The tension between these communities intensifies and ultimately manifests as violence occurring outside the arena, forming the central conflict of the book.