BTS Is Primed for a Billion-Dollar Comeback

The long-awaited instrumentality of K-pop lad set BTS could supply HYBE with a monolithic fiscal boost successful 2026. As the K-pop radical prepares its instrumentality pursuing a three-year hiatus, Billboard estimates that a caller BTS medium and circuit could make much than $1 cardinal successful gross from concerts, merchandise & licensing, medium income and streaming implicit a 12-month period.  

The breakthrough group, which brought K-pop to mainstream audiences successful the West and archetypal topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Dynamite” successful 2020, has been connected hiatus since 2022. Its members dutifully performed their mandatory subject work and, for some, launched palmy solo projects. BTS’s members reunited for the archetypal clip connected July 1, saying they volition merchandise a caller medium successful the outpouring of 2026. More details arrived connected Thursday (Oct. 16) erstwhile BTS subordinate RM told fans to “look guardant to precocious March” and said the radical needs to hole the album, sprout photos and movie the euphony video.  

A BTS reunion circuit stands to beryllium the biggest constituent of the group’s return. Hyundai Motor Securities expert Kim Hyun-yong estimated the comeback circuit volition diagnostic astir 65 shows and person an mean assemblage of astir 60,000. A emblematic K-pop circuit is shorter, but BTS’s 2018-2019 Love Yourself World Tour consisted of 62 shows successful 14 countries and played a premix of stadiums and arenas. Since the radical is much fashionable today, the mean venue size would astir apt beryllium larger. And fixed BTS’s agelong lack and planetary popularity, HYBE whitethorn not privation to permission wealth connected the table.  

A BTS circuit successful 2026 would payment from ongoing terms appreciation arsenic good arsenic beardown instrumentality interest. Prices for the apical 10 stadium shows are connected the rise, according to Billboard Boxscore, reaching $150.94 successful North America, $121.12 successful Europe and $110.57 successful the remainder of the satellite successful 2024. From 2022 to 2024, prices accrued an mean of 4.1% annually successful North America, 9.2% successful Europe and 13.6% successful the remainder of the world. Assuming the aforesaid rates of inflation, 65 shows evenly dispersed crossed the 3 regions with an mean of 60,000 fans each would nutrient 3.9 cardinal tickets astatine an mean outgo of $150.29, for gross income of $664.1 million. For context, Coldplay had the top-grossing circuit of 2024, which generated $401 cardinal from 3 cardinal tickets crossed 51 concerts. 

Concert merchandise, combined with online income and different licensing revenue, could besides nutrient a immense sum. According to atVenu’s 2025 Fan Spending Report, the mean K-pop instrumentality spends astir $50 connected merchandise astatine concerts, and up to 37% of K-pop fans acquisition merchandise. But not each instrumentality goes to concerts, truthful online income and licensing adhd to wide merch sales. Billboard’s K-Pop Fandom successful the U.S. survey recovered that 85% of K-pop fans bargain merchandise and 47% attended a K-pop performance successful the erstwhile 12 months. So, performance attendance of 3.9 cardinal works retired to $72.2 cardinal of merchandise income (47% of BTS fans volition be the show, and 37% of them volition bargain merchandise astatine the concert). That suggests that 68% of BTS fans would bargain merchandise elsewhere. Sticking with $50 per head, that works retired to $280 cardinal of merch income online, astatine pop-up stores and done different sources. That brings full merchandise income to $352.7 million.

Album income are an integral portion of immoderate K-pop group’s business. Given pent-up request for caller material, BTS volition apt lucifer the income of its past album, Proof — an anthology with 3 caller tracks, including “Yet to Come” — that reached No. 13 connected the Hot 100 and No. 1 connected the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.

1. Homepage
2. Entertainment
3. BTS Is Primed for a Billion-Dollar Comeback