It’s been over a year since Timothée Chalamet first went viral for being a raging Knicks fan. His antics on the sidelines (and in the streets) resulted in Timmy memes flooding social media. People have found it quite endearing ever since, especially when he’s been spotted courtside with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, who also broke the internet in 2025 with a different kind of Knicks meme.
In May of last year, Jenner reposted a clip on TikTok from an episode of Sex and the City. It features Carrie Bradshaw and Samantha Jones discussing Don, a man Samantha briefly dates.
“And when did we start caring about basketball?” Carrie asks her. “Don is obsessed,” Samantha says. “I don’t get laid unless the Knicks win.”
The original post on HBO Max’s TikTok account has over six million views, almost 650,000 likes and is also flooded with comments from users who find it hilarious that Jenner reposted it to her own account. If there’s anyone who may understand Samantha’s struggle, it’s the woman who’s sitting front row at Knicks games right next to her fervent partner.
Besides the social-media virality, maybe there’s some validity to what Jones and Jenner are suggesting here. Can a win from your favorite sports team really impact intimacy in your relationship? It’s certainly possible, and we have the stats to prove it.
Lelo, a sexual wellness brand, recently surveyed thousands of eager sports fans about how big wins or losses influence their performance in the bedroom. As Casey Tanner, a Lelo sexpert and certified sex therapist, said, “Is a big game just a game, or is it also a kind of foreplay?”
Now here you are, a man experiencing the thrills of the Knicks (or Spurs, I suppose) in the NBA Finals, all while the World Cup is less than a week away, baseball season is in full swing and we’re only a few months out from the NFL preseason. If you’re any kind of sports fan, you’re likely feeling the electricity in the air, and we’ve consulted the experts to make sure your team won’t be the only one scoring.
Sports and Your Sex Drive
Sports can be an emotional amplifier, says Tanner. Wins energize people, which in turn can make them feel more connected, powerful and open to intimacy. A loss, however, can cause irritability or avoidance. Games ultimately trigger your nervous system — there’s anticipation, ritual, hope, heartbreak — and it all happens within a few short hours. The effects of this can last well after the final whistle, creating a charged environment that can then carry into your sex life or relationships.
According to the Lelo survey, over 30% of participants said a win improves sex lives and 38% said they don’t want to choose between their team winning and an unforgettable erotic night. Sure, why not have both if you can?
Additionally, one in four participants even went so far as to agree that game-winning points from their team can feel almost identical to an orgasm due to the massive release of tension. A “goal-gasm,” if you will.
“Think of a ‘goal-gasm’ as that rush of pleasure and adrenaline that comes from watching a team you are invested in succeed,” Tanner explains. “Humans are wired to emotionally participate in the success of people and groups we identify with. So when your team scores, advances or wins, your body can experience that victory as partly yours. You get to share in their pride, as if you had some small role in the win.”
It’s not a literal orgasm by any means. It all has to do with hormones, and a goal on the field, in this case, can be more than just a points on the board. Over 38% of survey participants said they feel a rush after a goal that makes them crave intimacy, and 20% called a win “the best foreplay.”
Tanner says these results have to do with the “emotional intimacy” that sports gives men access to. They get to share these experiences with other men, wear their hearts on their sleeves and display emotions like hope and devastation without any judgment.
On the slip side, a loss can be a mood killer because we can feel it as a “full-body experience,” Tanner explains — there’s embarrassment, anger and even betrayal — but she also said that celebration is “an underrated erotic state.”
“When a team wins, fans often feel more confident and connected,” she says. “There is relief after built-up tension. Wins can also become an external cue that makes people feel like they have permission to lean into pleasure and enjoyment, opening the door for people to initiate and/or say yes to intimacy.”
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Tanner says watching sports can get people in the mood because it’s a combination of “the same ingredients we associate with desire.” There’s tension, emotional intensity, sweat, focus and heat.
“Perhaps your heart rate and breathing change as you watch, you move in a little closer to the person you’re watching with and you emerge from the shared experience with a renewed sense of connection and eroticism.”
It’s also important to remember that physical arousal is not always sexual, she says. It depends on how you channel those feelings. If you’re watching with your girlfriend or wife, you can be playful or affectionate, which can become erotic. If you’re angry, it can kill the vibe entirely.
“If a couple experiences the game as a shared ritual — something they flirt through, laugh about, celebrate — it can bring them closer,” she says. “But if the game becomes a place where one partner disappears, yells at the TV, drinks too much or emotionally checks out, it can create distance.”
Sadness over a loss itself isn’t even an immediate turnoff. It can invite closeness, she says, but it’s when the behavior shifts to a darker place when things go south — if you’re mean, sulky or unreachable. Your partner does not want you taking your feelings out on her, and if you’re feeling distant or unreachable, there are healthier ways to handle it that can still ultimately lead to an enjoyable night.
“You can turn the vibe around by giving yourself a transition period between the loss and attempts to connect,” Tanner says. “Take a walk, get in the shower, text someone else who loves the same team and bond over the injustice. Better yet, let your partner know what you’re doing. Say, ‘I need 10 minutes to be a little upset and then I’m coming back to you.’”
The sexiest thing you can do on game day? Make it an experience she wants to be part of.
“Find their access point. Consider the environment, food, drinks and rituals that they might connect with naturally,” she says. “Maybe they like the social energy, the behind-the-scenes drama or the excuse to cuddle.”
If your partner is equally as invested in the game or team that you’re tuning into, Tanner suggests leaning into “the shared ritual.”
If she’s less interested in the game, she doesn’t need to watch it for your night to end up with some bedroom overtime. The goal of the night shouldn’t be to make her care to the extent that you do, Tanner explains, but to find a way to make it pleasurable for the both of you. One way to do that could be creating an association for your partner between the game and having an emotional connection. As Tanner puts it, there’s always a way to make sure your partner doesn’t “feel sidelined.”
“When your team scores, go into the other room and give them a celebratory kiss,” Tanner suggests. “Make a date for right after the game is set to end and channel your arousal into the sexual dynamic. Be sure your partner does not feel like they are competing with the TV for your attention.”
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