This study examines how Chinese college students negotiate competing identity forces through sports fandom in China’s unique socio-political context. Bridging Social Identity Theory and Bourdieusian cultural capital, we analyze how structural factors (social capital and position of origin) and geographical subjectivities (patriotism and cosmopolitanism) shape international fandom behaviors. Using PLS-SEM analysis of survey data from 264 students across Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces, we reveal three key findings. First, social capital emerges as the primary enabler of transnational fandom, facilitating access to global cultural repertoires through network resources. Second, we identify a phenomenon of patriotic cosmopolitanism, where students strategically compartmentalize nationalist ideology and global consumption: patriotism reduces time invested in foreign idols yet increases behavioral involvement, while cosmopolitanism strengthens identification. Third, our results challenge Western assumptions about fandom, showing how Chinese youth reconcile state nationalism with global consumption through distinctive identity work. The study contributes to cultural globalization literature by demonstrating non-Western pathways to cosmopolitan identity formation, revealing social capital´s primacy over social class in Confucian societies, and theorizing patriotic cosmopolitanism as a hybrid identity strategy in modern China. Methodologically, we advance fandom research through innovative integration of psychological and sociological frameworks in non-Western contexts.
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