Hanteo Music Awards 2025 “Who’s Fandom” Round 2 Bracket Drops — ARMY vs Carats Headlines the Top 16

The K-pop Fandom Tournament You Actually Need to Watch

This just turned into a real fandom power test.

Hanteo Music Awards 2025 (HMA 2025) has the “Who’s Fandom Award,” and it’s built on one thing only: global fan votes. That’s it. No sales. No streams. No “industry math.”

Forty teams entered pre-voting. Now we’re down to the Top 16. And Round 2 matchups just landed.

How the Tournament Works (Fast Version)

The Top 16 were split into 4 groups of 4 through a live draw.

Inside each group, every team faces the other three teams once.

That’s 3 matchups per fandom. Short. Brutal. No room for “we’ll vote later.”

Win a matchup? You get 1 point.

After the three match days, the Top 2 teams in each group advance to the Top 8.

Round 2 Matchups That Are Already Blowing Up

• ARMY (BTS) vs Carats (SEVENTEEN) — two fandom machines colliding
• ENGENE (ENHYPEN) vs VIP (BIGBANG) — pure generation clash energy
• MOA (TOMORROW X TOGETHER) vs HATCHU (Hearts2Hearts) — new hype vs fresh fandom momentum
• Hero’s Era (Lim Young-woong) vs EXO-L (EXO) — different worlds, same vote intensity
• PLL (PLAVE) vs FEARNOT (LE SSERAFIM) — virtual power vs global girl-group force
• MY (aespa) vs THE B (THE BOYZ) — fandom discipline check
• STAY (Stray Kids) vs BRIIZE (RIIZE) — energy vs energy, no chill
• TREASURE MAKER (TREASURE) vs CORE (KORITS) — underdog voters can swing this

This is the rare award where international fans don’t feel like “extra credit.” The vote is the whole game.

Why This Matters (Without the Hype)

This format measures one thing: community strength.

Not popularity in theory. Not “who trended once.” Actual turnout.

It also pressures fandoms to organize fast. Because every matchup is a point. And points decide who even reaches the real bracket.

What Happens Next

Round 2 voting runs Jan 8–9.

Round 3 follows on Jan 11–12. That’s the last score day.

Then they total the points and lock in the Top 8 for the full tournament stage.

And yes—everyone will be watching this all the way to the HMA 2025 ceremony on Feb 15, 2026 at Seoul’s KSPO Dome.