“Arirang,” BTS’s first world tour in nearly four years, has been announced to kick off in Goyang starting April 9. The K-pop superstars will then travel to North αмєяι¢α, Europe, Oceania, East Asia, and Southeast Asia through March of next year. The tour also marks BTS’s first-ever visits to several countries, including Peru and Colombia. In total, the tour comprises 81 shows across 34 cities, representing the largest number of performances ever staged by a K-pop tour.

Industry experts and media outlets both domestically and internationally anticipated the explosive impact of BTS’s comeback tour as soon as the announcement was made. U.S. media outlet Forbes evaluated that its scale sets “a new benchmark for South кσяєαn artists touring,” while USA Today described that “this tour will once again rewrite history.”

For this tour, ticket purchases were restricted to verified accounts, with tickets sold exclusively through designated official ticketing platforms on both domestic and international websites. Nevertheless, the actual ticket sales once again left global fans stunned, much like previous BTS tours: both presale and general sale tickets sold out rapidly, reaffirming BTS’s enduring global appeal.

Specifically, on January 25, several major fan accounts and international media outlets reported that BTS had sold out multiple concert dates at 44 stadiums worldwide as part of the ARIRANG tour after three days of ticket sales opening. In particular, tickets in some locations sold out within just minutes, with fans likening the experience to ‘not even having time to see where the seats were'. The detailed list includes:

Among them, the three concerts scheduled for April 9, 11, and 12 at the main stadium of the Goyang Sports Complex in Gyeonggi Province were reported to have sold out during the early presale held on the 22nd exclusively for official fan club members. Notably, more than 100,000 fans reportedly flooded the online waiting queue within just a few minutes.

A fan who successfully secured tickets for the Goyang concert told YTN: “I was determined to attend no matter what, so I’m incredibly happy that I managed to get a concert ticket. I can’t wait for spring to come so I can finally see the full lineup perform together on stage.”

In another country, мєχι¢σ, Ticketmaster also reported that tickets for BTS’s concerts on May 7 and May 9 at Estadio GNP Seguros sold out within just 37 minutes during the presale. Even more astonishing, 1.1 million users reportedly entered the virtual waiting room simultaneously to attempt to purchase tickets. Demand extended far beyond local fans, with access attempts recorded from more than 1,300 cities worldwide, including major international hubs such as Lima, Bogota, Santiago, California, and Texas.

A Ticketmaster representative described the phenomenon as one of the most intense and high-demand ticket sales in the recent history of мєχι¢σ’s live music industry.

On the same North αмєяι¢αn continent, BTS’s concerts in the United States also saw overwhelming demand, prompting management company Big Hit Music to add one additional show each in Tampa, Florida, and Stanford, California.

“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 кσяєα Herald, Friday. “My husband bought the first set of four tickets he could find. Definitely not a вℓσσ∂bath, but I didn’t even get in after being 28,036.”

The Guardian also highlighted stories of fans who booked flights and hotels even before concert tickets went on sale. Leslie Huynh (28), who works in film equipment rentals in New York, said: “When BTS announces a tour, you just have to book the hotel and flight first. It’s become a meme that you’ll find a ticket somehow, whether it’s a resale or not.”

Huynh plans to attend 22 shows across 11 cities. She also plans to go on a “pilgrimage” to restaurants and landmarks visited by BTS, explaining, “I consider BTS a very expensive hobby, but it’s because they are the ones I choose to spend my money on.”

Kayley Merulla (25), a content strategist in New Jersey, also plans to attend six shows in three U.S. cities. “BTS helped me through the hardest times of my life. They are a source of unconditional happiness,” she said. “I can’t imagine where I’d be without them. Traveling elsewhere for a BTS concert is an obvious choice for me.”

Witnessing the immense attention surrounding BTS’s global tour, netizens could not help but express their amazement: “Of course, always sold out”, "It sold out so fast…I want ticket too please", "This is why there's an album version named living legends", "The Kings are Back!", "BTS & ARMY are so insane", "As a Chicago Army, I'm very proud that we were the fastest US city, and third fastest overall", "All less than an hour. NEVER DOUBT BTS",...