BTS (Big Hit Music)
BTS (Big Hit Music)

BTS reaffirmed its sustained global demand Thursday, when opening shows of the group's upcoming world tour sold out completely during presales.

BTS will kick off its “Arirang” tour with three concerts on April 9, 11 and 12 at the main stadium of the Goyang Sports Complex in Gyeonggi Province. All tickets for the three shows were snapped up during the official fan club presale held on Thursday, with more than 100,000 fans flooding the online waiting queue within minutes.

Under the ticketing schedule, holders of the official Army membership were granted priority access through presales, followed by general ticket sales opening on Friday. As with the presale, general ticket purchases are restricted to identity-verified accounts, and tickets are sold exclusively through designated official ticketing platforms on both domestic and global sites.

The agency warned that ticket purchases through unofficial channels — including resale, transfers, proxy purchases and scalping — are strictly prohibited. Violations may result in ticket cancellations or denial of entry.

Presales for North American dates also began sequentially from 3 p.m. PST on Friday, with general sales opening the following day, mirroring the Korea schedule.

An official poster for BTS’ world tour “Arirang,” featuring the schedule of its global stops (BIg Hit Music)
An official poster for BTS’ world tour “Arirang,” featuring the schedule of its global stops (BIg Hit Music)

“What a crazy day. My husband and I both joined Army. We marked our calendars, followed all the instructions, logged in, and one of us got in at number 2,436,” Christine Kao, a BTS fan based in San Francisco, told The Korea Herald, Friday. “My husband bought the first set of four tickets he could find. Definitely not a bloodbath, but I didn’t even get in after being 28,036.”

Buoyed by overwhelming demand, BTS agency Big Hit Music confirmed one additional show each in Tampa, Florida, and Stanford, California. Notably, BTS will become only the second artist to headline a solo concert at Stanford Stadium, following Coldplay.

“Arirang,” the boy group’s first world tour in nearly four years, will begin in Goyang before continuing with concerts at Tokyo Dome on April 17 and 18. The tour will then span North America, Europe, South America and Asia. In total, the tour comprises 81 shows across 34 cities, marking the largest number of performances ever for a K-pop tour.

BTS is also set to release its fifth album, “Arirang,” featuring 14 tracks, on March 20.


jaaykim@heraldcorp.com