Boy band BTS performs during 'Arirang' world tour at SoFi Stadium in California in early September.
Boy band BTS performs during "Arirang" world tour at SoFi Stadium in California in early September. BIGHIT MUSIC
BTS has made K-pop history again, as it emerges as one of the highest-grossing acts at NFL stadiums and joins the ranks of superstars Beyoncé and country music legend George Strait.
The band’s “Arirang” world tour ranked among the highest-grossing and most-attended concerts of all time at a number of major stadiums, according to a report U.S. music outlet Billboard released on Wednesday. BTS took the top spot at four of the 30 NFL arenas included in the rankings.
The report ranked concerts held at 30 NFL stadiums across the United States based on ticket revenue and attendance.
NFL stadiums are known for their massive capacity, allowing concerts to draw significantly larger crowds than those held at other major sports venues.
“The typical attendance for a concert at a baseball stadium runs somewhere between 30,000 and 45,000,” Billboard said. “At football stadiums, capacity scales between 60,000 in Chicago to more than 80,000 at MetLife Stadium.”
BTS took the top spot at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where it held four performances in May. The shows grossed $49.5 million from 246,000 tickets sold.
The concerts set the venue's highest-grossing concert record since the stadium opened in 2020, the band's agency BigHit Music said.
Boy band BTS performs in Arlington, Texas, as part of its ongoing 'Arirang' world tour
Boy band BTS performs in Arlington, Texas, as part of its ongoing "Arirang" world tour
BTS also placed No. 2 at the same venue for its 2022 concerts.
The band ranked No. 1 at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, where its August concerts grossed $28.7 million, and at M&T Bank Stadium in Maryland, where its shows that same month grossed $27.6 million.
BTS also topped the rankings at Raymond James Stadium in Florida, where it performed in April.
At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the band ranked No. 3, behind Beyoncé, who took the top two spots.
BTS also debuted at No. 1 on the September concert charts for both Live75 and Global Concert Pulse, released Tuesday by U.S. concert publication Pollstar.
LIVE75 is determined by the average number of tickets sold for tours worldwide over roughly a one-month period, while Global Concert Pulse ranks tours based on their average gross over the last three months.
BTS ranked top for the LIVE75 with an average of 72,004 tickets per show at six recent concerts in three U.S. stadiums on its tour, Pollstar said. It was followed by artists Noah Kahan, Karol G and Chris Brown and Usher — all of whom hold ticket averages in the 40,000 range.
Boy band BTS performs during its ″Arirang″ world tour in Goyang, Gyeonggi.
Boy band BTS performs during its ″Arirang″ world tour in Goyang, Gyeonggi. BIGHIT MUSIC
Topping the Global Concert Pulse, the band grossed $12.7 million on average per show from 18 concerts during the chart’s three-month period of eligibility, the outlet said.
BTS began its “Arirang” world tour in April after releasing its fifth full-length album of the same name in March. It wrapped up the North American leg of the tour on Sunday and is scheduled to perform in Bogota, Colombia, on Oct. 2, kicking off its South American leg. The band will hold 14 shows across five cities on the continent.
The world tour will continue through early next year, with additional shows in the Middle East and Japan set to be added, according to BigHit Music.
BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]