K-pop fans and sports fans are the same communities in different fonts. This is a take I have seen online, and the more I think about it, the more reasons I have to agree. To be completely upfront, I am a big K-pop fan, and I am not super into sports. However, I am also a born and raised Nebraskan, so it is impossible to not have at minimum a basic understanding of sports fans. Additionally, when I refer to sports fans, I am referring primarily to fans of professional and high-level collegiate teams, not a high school team from someone’s hometown.
Obviously, at a basic level both groups are fandoms, which gives them some similarities, but I am arguing there are many things about sports fans and K-pop fans that are closer than say sports fans and fans of Dancing with the Stars.
To start, sports fans have a favorite player (or several), and K-pop fans have a bias (or several), which is a fancy way of saying a favorite member.
This is possible in part because both sports teams and K-pop groups are just that: teams. Each member has a different role to play. When each part comes together like it’s supposed to, the result is something beautiful and artistic in its execution.
To be able to execute their roles correctly, both K-pop stars and sports stars put in more time, practice and energy than someone like me could even imagine. Whether a professional sports player or a K-pop star, both are high level athletes in their respective fields.
According to Merriam-Webster an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina.”
If you think K-pop stars are not athletes, you have obviously never tried to perform like them and probably never even seen a performance. If you think sports stars are not athletes, you should get your reading comprehension checked, because “sports” is in the definition.
Another similarity is the willingness to spend several hundred dollars to see your favorites perform in person. Looking on Ticketmaster in mid-November of 2025, a single ticket to a Los Angeles Lakers game is going to cost anywhere from $101 to well over $1,000, depending on the game and the seat.
In my experience, tickets for different K-pop acts are in a similar range, though often tickets for big name groups like BTS sell out very quickly and get resold for wildly increased prices. The tickets also often fall prey to Ticketmaster’s Platinum pricing that increases with demand, an act that should be a crime.
I personally have not spent more than $250 on a single ticket before, but I will not rule it out for the future when I have an adult job and adult money.
At these live events, sports fans have fan chants they do at games, such as the University of Texas’ “Hook ‘Em” or a more broad “D-E-F-E-N-C-E.” K-pop fans also have fan chants for concerts and other performances, such as ATEEZ’s “Break the Wall” chant in Guerrilla or BTS’ Mic Drop chant. Chanting is such an important part of K-pop performances that there is even a phrase, “fanchant order,” that is used to refer to the specific order the fan is supposed to say every member’s name in.
There are other fan rituals present, too. The Pittsburgh Steelers have their “Terrible Towels” that they wave. K-pop groups each have their own light stick that can be connected to Bluetooth at the concerts and will then change colors with the songs. Sports fans might do the wave during a break and K-pop fans will almost certainly do the wave during a break, except with their light sticks.
Yet another major similarity is how fast the fans end up talking about their respective fandoms when asked about hobbies. Not when asked what media they consume, but when asked what hobbies they have. Being a part of the fandom is important enough to the fans that it is no longer just something they consume, but something they do. They both decorate their areas with official and unofficial merch, posters and pictures in their bedrooms, stickers on their belongings, themed clothing, pins on backpacks and so many other things that show their belonging to a specific fandom.
An oddly specific similarity within merch is how both sports fans and K-pop fans collect photocards. Not all fans collect, but a substantial chunk do, and I find it so interesting how much value people put on little pieces of paper with a specific picture on it. Reaction videos of sports fans getting the card they want and K-pop fans pulling the card they want are the exact same.
Another point I have noticed about both sports fans and K-pop fans, me included, is how easy it is for them to put a little too much of their identity into their team or a member of the team, who usually have no idea they even exist. Because this is the thing the fan has chosen as their happiness, their emotional state depends on whether their favorites win this game or this award. I promise that the world will not end if some other team wins.
This competition also often leads to a lot of toxicity, hating fans of other teams, setting absurd standards for what a person must do to be a “real” fan and the bullying or harassment of people who disagree. I do not enjoy seeing stories of people rioting after soccer games, people flooding airports for a miniscule chance to see a star they like. I also do not enjoy seeing the Philadelphia Eagles fans notoriously destroying property after their team beat the Kansas City Chiefs at the Super Bowl.
At the end of the day, it is entertainment, and is not that deep, so what can I say? Some fans analyze performances or music video lore, and some fans analyze plays. I say it is a match made in heaven…or maybe hell.
