BTS VMAs 2026 Best Group vote: Instagram steps and deadline

The Best Group final-round vote for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards opened September 24, 2026, on the official VMAs Instagram Story.
The window before the September 27 ceremony is about 3 days, so each voting Story MTV posts is worth a tap right away.
This post covers the voting steps, the vote limit, the competitors, and where to watch the show.

BTS VMAs 2026 Best Group vote: Instagram steps, deadline, and what to know
When does the Best Group final-round vote close?
How many times can you vote on the Instagram Story poll?
Who BTS is up against in Best Group
BTS’s other 2026 VMA nominations
Where and when to watch the 2026 VMAs

BTS VMAs 2026 Best Group vote: Instagram steps, deadline, and what to know

Best Group final vote opens	September 24 — announced by the official VMAs Twitter/X account
Where the vote is held	Poll sticker on the official VMAs Instagram Story
Vote limit	One tap per Instagram account per voting Story
Final-round voting closes	Before the September 27 ceremony — exact hour not announced
2026 VMAs ceremony	September 27 — Peacock Theater, Los Angeles
Where to watch	Live on CBS, streaming on Paramount+ worldwide

The final-round vote runs as polls on MTV’s official Instagram Story — the official VMAs Twitter/X account announced the final on September 24, 2026.
Go to the account linked from that announcement post rather than searching inside the app, because the handle differs across fan summaries and the linked post is the one that is actually live.

Open the Instagram Story of the official VMAs account while voting is open.
Find the Best Group Story with the poll sticker.
Tap BTS’s card.
Tap again every time a new voting Story is posted — each Story allows one tap per account.

The vote is per-account, not unlimited fan-voting, so one Instagram account gets one tap per voting Story.
Check the story as soon as each new voting post drops, since the whole final round lasts only about 3 days before the September 27 ceremony.

BTS VMAs 2026 Best Group vote: Instagram steps, deadline, and what to know

When does the Best Group final-round vote close?

The vote went live on September 24, 2026, and the ceremony is September 27 — a window of about 3 days.
The exact closing date and hour was not announced in the sources found, so the safe plan is to finish voting before September 27, not on the day.

Final rounds run shortly before the show, and the September 24 start fits that pattern.
What was not announced is the precise cutoff — no source states the hour the poll comes down.

If only September 27 evening works for voting, that may already be too late.
Treat September 27 as the last possible date, not the deadline itself, and cast your taps before then.

Hourglass clipart, illustration vector — When does the Best Group final-round vote close? — Photo: Hourglass clipart, illustration vector — CC0 1.0 (Openverse)

How many times can you vote on the Instagram Story poll?

One tap per Instagram account per voting Story — the practical limit is how many voting Stories MTV posts.
There is no unlimited voting in this format, and the daily cap, if any, was not confirmed.

That means the way to maximize votes is timing, not repetition.
Tap once as soon as each new Best Group voting Story drops, because older Stories expire and a tap on a live poll is the only one that counts.
Turning on notifications for the account posting the Stories is the one setting that keeps you from missing a window.

Whether voting is also open on MTV’s website this round, or whether region restrictions apply to Story voting, could not be confirmed.
If a web vote opens, it will be announced through the same official VMAs accounts.

Who BTS is up against in Best Group

The Best Group final includes BTS, BLACKPINK, KATSEYE, and CORTIS — a field with several K-pop acts.
The vote you are tapping decides whether BTS extends its own record or BLACKPINK closes the gap.

BTS won Best Group 4 consecutive years from 2019 to 2022, the most in the category’s history, so a win on September 27, 2026 would make it 5 total.
BLACKPINK won in 2023 and 2025, and a 2026 win would give them 3.
KATSEYE and CORTIS round out the finalists.

Finalist	Best Group wins before 2026	A 2026 win means
BTS	4 (2019–2022, all-time record)	5 total, record extended
BLACKPINK	2 (2023, 2025)	3 total
KATSEYE	0	First title
CORTIS	0	First title

If the record is what motivates the tap, this is the round that decides it — 4 straight wins ended in 2022, and no artist has caught up since.

BTS’s other 2026 VMA nominations

BTS has 3 nominations at the 2026 VMAs: Song of the Year and Best K-Pop, both for ‘SWIM’, plus Best Group. ‘SWIM’ is the title track of ‘ARIRANG’, the group’s 5th full album released in March 2026.

The Best K-Pop field is wide: BLACKPINK Lisa — the most-nominated K-pop artist this year with 4 nods — rookie CORTIS, KATSEYE, LE SSERAFIM’s ‘Spaghetti’, and BLACKPINK’s ‘Jump’.
In Song of the Year, ‘SWIM’ competes against ‘HUNTR/X’ from Netflix’s ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’, among others.

Whether Song of the Year and Best K-Pop also use Instagram Story voting in the final round was not confirmed.
Watch the official VMAs accounts for each category’s voting method, and check the pinned voting-guide thread on r/bangtan, where fans answer method and deadline questions during the final round.

Where and when to watch the 2026 VMAs

The 2026 VMAs take place on September 27 at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, airing live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ worldwide.
International viewers can stream the ceremony on Paramount+ without a US TV package.

The show closes a short VMA window for BTS: MTV added the group to the Best Group nominees on September 18, completing a 3-category slate, and the same day BTS performed at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas — its first US festival stage in about 6 years since 2020.
That performance streamed on Disney+ and Hulu.

If you plan to vote and watch, the order is: finish your taps before September 27, then tune in on the 27th on CBS or Paramount+.

If I were voting, I would tap once the moment each new Best Group Story drops, because Stories expire after 24 hours and a missed round is a lost vote.

📎 📅 다가오는 일정 — 발매·개봉·발표 캘린더

Sources

Dates to keep on your calendar

Check the official VMAs Instagram (@vmx / @mtv) Story again before the show — a new voting Story can drop any time until the September 27 ceremony
If you miss a Story window, the vote for that round is gone — there is no makeup tap, since each Story closes after 24 hours
Plan to be near the show date: final rounds run shortly before the ceremony, and the exact closing time was never announced

FAQ

Q. How do I vote for BTS Best Group at the 2026 VMAs?

Open the official VMAs Instagram Story, find the Best Group poll sticker, and tap BTS’s card. Tap again each time a new voting Story is posted — one tap per account per Story.

Q. When does VMAs Best Group final-round voting close?

Voting opened September 24, 2026, and the ceremony is September 27, so the window is about 3 days. The exact closing hour was not announced — finish before September 27.

Q. Where is the vote held — Instagram?

Yes, the Best Group final-round vote runs as polls on the official VMAs Instagram Story, per the VMAs Twitter/X announcement of September 24, 2026. Use the account linked in that post.

Q. How many times can I vote on the MTV Instagram Story poll?

One tap per Instagram account per voting Story. The total number of votes you can cast equals the number of voting Stories posted; a daily cap and web voting were not confirmed for 2026.

Q. Can BTS extend its Best Group record this year?

BTS holds the category record with 4 straight wins from 2019 to 2022. A win on September 27, 2026 would be its 5th — but BLACKPINK, KATSEYE, and CORTIS are in the same final.