BTS’s return to the global touring circuit in 2026 is expected to generate more than $1bn in revenue, according to industry estimates, as the South Korean powerhouse prepares for its first full-scale comeback since before the pandemic.
The seven-member K-pop boyband, composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, has been on hiatus since 2022, while its members completed mandatory military service. The group will be releasing a new album in the spring of 2026, followed by a 79-show world tour covering 34 cities across 23 countries, spanning five continents from April 2026 through March 2027.
The comeback will mark BTS’s first full tour since before Covid-19 disrupted the live music industry, forcing the cancellation of its planned “Map of the Soul” world tour in 2020 and 2021 after repeated postponements.
BTS last performed together at their concert in Busan in October 2022, after which BigHit Music, the HYBE subsidiary that manages the group, confirmed that all seven members would enlist for military service. Since then, the group has remained largely absent as a unit, even as interest in its return continued to build.
Industry analysts have pointed to high estimates for the tour, taking into account both the scale of the comeback and the economics of the current touring market. A Billboard analysis put total consumer spending linked to the new album and tour at more than $1.05bn (£781m) over a 12-month period, combining ticket sales, merchandise, album purchases, licensing and streaming.
With 79 shows confirmed worldwide, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities told Billboard that each concert is expected to draw an average audience of around 60,000, placing total attendance at roughly 4.7 million over the course of the tour. Ticket prices have also risen sharply since the pandemic, with Billboard Boxscore data showing average prices for the top stadium tours reaching $150.94 in North America, $121.12 in Europe and $110.57 elsewhere in 2024, following sustained increases since 2022.
BTS’s earlier touring record offers a clear reference point. Before the pandemic put a stop to large-scale live events, the group had already established itself as one of the world’s highest-grossing touring acts. Its “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour in 2018-19 grossed about $246m from 62 shows, selling close to 2 million tickets across Asia, Europe, and North America, according to data from Pollstar.
At the time, it was the highest-grossing tour ever by a Korean act.
When BTS returned briefly to live performance after pandemic restrictions eased, demand remained strong. Touring Data lists the group’s “Permission to Dance on Stage” concerts in 2021 and 2022 – a limited run of stadium shows in Los Angeles, Seoul, and Las Vegas – as grossing more than $75m from 12 dates – not counting the millions made from livestream shows.
In the wider touring market, recent box office figures show how far stadium revenues have climbed since the pandemic. Coldplay’s tour grossed $409m from 3.8 million tickets sold across 51 concerts in 2024 alone, placing it at the top of the global touring rankings for the year. At the very highest end of the market, Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” has crossed $1bn in gross revenue over multiple years, setting a new benchmark for what extended, multi-leg stadium tours can now generate.
Recent tours by other K-pop acts also point to a strong and sustained demand in the post-pandemic market. Blackpink’s ongoing “Deadline World Tour” has drawn crowds in excess of 70,000 per night at major stadiums, while girl group Twice’s “This Is For World Tour” has generated $93.8m (£73m) in gross revenue across the first 24 reported dates.
South Korea’s mandatory military service, which requires all able-bodied men to serve a minimum of 18 months in active service, has interrupted the careers of many K-pop acts. BTS, however, coordinated its enlistments and remained active through solo releases and performances, helping maintain fan engagement during the hiatus.
That demand was visible in the solo touring results of individual members.
Suga, who also performs under his alter ego Agust D, grossed around $57m from 28 shows on his “D-Day World Tour” in 2023, J-Hope’s “Hope on the Stage Tour” brought in more than $80m across 33 shows, while Jin’s “RunSeokjin Ep Tour” grossed $32.5m and drew about 217,000 fans.
All three tours were staged in arenas rather than stadiums, offering at least a partial indication of audience appetite ahead of BTS’s return to much larger venues.
Another significant portion of the revenue estimate is expected to come from merchandise sales. According to US-based music analytics firm Luminate, Gen Z K-pop fans in the country spent an average of $24 a month on merchandise last year, more than double the level of average US music listeners and higher than spending by fans of other Asian pop genres.
Additionally, “Billboard’s K-Pop Fandom in the US” survey found that 85 per cent of fans purchase merchandise, while 47 per cent attended a concert in the previous year; the outlet has estimated that combined on-site and off-site merchandise and licensing could easily generate around $353m in consumer revenue.
BTS’s most recent group release, the anthology album Proof, sold more than 4 million copies worldwide and topped charts in multiple countries, including a No 1 debut on the Billboard 200 and a strong showing on global charts in 2022. Standard editions retailed for around $70, with collector and multi-disc versions fetching higher prices, while more typical single-album prices for K-pop releases in key markets also sit in the $23-30 range.
The forthcoming album will be the group’s first release of new group material since Be in 2020. After a six-year gap without a full BTS studio album, fans who have continued to spend on solo releases and catalogue titles will, for the first time in nearly a decade, be buying a new group record, which is likely to translate into strong initial sales.
According to Billboard, the new album could generate around $80m in retail sales over a 12-month period, with streaming contributing a further $33m, based on historic listening levels.
For HYBE, the South Korean entertainment company, the comeback comes after several years of heavy investment aimed at reducing reliance on a single act. BTS once accounted for as much as 95 per cent of the company’s revenue, but that share fell to below 20 per cent in 2024, according to HYBE’s earnings disclosures, as the group paused activities and the company expanded its roster through new acts and acquisitions.
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