The group BTS once again proved it is the overwhelming force in the global concert market by setting record-breaking sales at major U.S. stadiums. They stood on equal footing with world-renowned artists such as pop star Beyonce and country legend George Strait.
On the 9th (local time), U.S. music trade publication Billboard released aggregated rankings of concert grosses for 30 NFL (National Football League) stadiums, showing that BTS's world tour "BTS WORLD TOUR "ARIRANG"" dominated the top spots for all-time highest grosses and largest audiences at multiple major stadiums.
In May, BTS held a total of four shows at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium, generating $49.5 million in ticket sales (approximately 66 billion won) and drawing 246,000 attendees, marking the stadium's highest-grossing run since its opening. Amazingly, their 2022 concerts at the same venue ranked second, completing the remarkable feat of BTS occupying both the first and second spots.
In addition, BTS ranked first for the highest-grossing show ever at Gillette Stadium ($28.7 million; approximately 38.4 billion won), and logged the highest-grossing shows since opening at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium ($27.6 million; approximately 36.9 billion won) and Tampa's Raymond James Stadium ($40.7 million; approximately 54.4 billion won). At MetLife Stadium in New York, one of the largest venues in the U.S., they recorded $31.8 million in grosses (approximately 42.5 billion won), ranking third.
This explosive box-office surge was confirmed on global metrics as well. U.S. concert trade publication Pollstar released the "Live75" and "Global Concert Pulse" charts, where BTS debuted at No. 1 on both. On the "Live75," which averaged 72,004 tickets sold per show, BTS outperformed top pop stars such as Noah Kahan (No. 2), Karol G (No. 3), and Chris Brown & Usher (No. 4) by about 1.6 times.
They also topped the "Global Concert Pulse," generating an average of $12.7 million in gross per show (approximately 17 billion won), comfortably beating No. 2 Karol G ($9.4 million) by $3.3 million. This world tour, which continues into the first half of next year, is expected to add dates in the Middle East and Japan, and the music industry is watching to see what further records it may set.
Meanwhile, BTS will perform 14 shows across five South American cities, starting Oct. 2 in Bogota, Colombia, followed by Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
[Photo] BigHit Music (HYBE)
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