70,000 Seats Abroad at Once... Korea Without a 50,000-Seat Venue Rents Soccer Stadiums for Concerts [K-pop’s Home Lacks a Concert Dome]

54% of Korea's Popular Music Ticket Revenue

Generated from Mega Venues with Over 10,000 Seats

No Infrastructure to Support World Tour Demand

"Key Hubs Needed to Prevent Outflow of Revenue and Tourism Spending"

More than 60,000 fans are cheering at BTS's world tour "Arirang" held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, USA, on the 23rd. Provided by Big Hit Music

Although K-pop can fill concert venues with 50,000 to 70,000 seats overseas, there is not a single 50,000-seat concert dome in Korea, the home of K-pop. As a result, domestic artists are left circulating between soccer stadiums and indoor arenas with capacities of around 15,000 seats. In a recent cabinet meeting, President Lee Jaemyung addressed this issue, stating, "We need a large-scale concert venue with around 50,000 seats," and criticized the current plans for 20,000- to 30,000-seat venues as being "too small." He emphasized the need for a national landmark performance venue, which stems from this awareness of the problem.

In response, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young announced that the location for the new concert venue would be decided in consultation with the new local governments after the local elections. However, industry experts point out that the creation of a 50,000-seat concert dome and the expansion of 20,000- to 30,000-seat arenas for balanced regional cultural development should be approached as separate issues.

Of course, music-focused concert venues with capacities of 20,000 to 30,000 seats are necessary. They are a critical infrastructure for establishing the regional concert market base and for stably hosting mid- and large-scale idol tours or concerts by overseas pop stars. However, the facility mentioned by the president is a national-level concert dome with a capacity of around 50,000 seats—an even higher tier. If a 20,000-seat arena serves as the "core" supporting the performance industry ecosystem, a 50,000-seat dome is the "ceiling" that attracts top-tier global artists. The two types of venues have different roles and purposes.

An official from Japanese entertainment giant Amuse stated, "Arenas with around 20,000 seats and domes or stadiums with around 50,000 seats have completely different characteristics and cannot substitute for each other." He explained, "Arenas are scattered across major cities and are often used as tour venues where artists travel around the country to meet fans, while domes and stadiums are used as festival sites where fans from all over the country gather for the tour's final show or for anniversaries."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is also aware of the shortage of large concert venues. In last year's work report, it suggested both the construction of a new 50,000-seat dome and the expansion of arenas in Seoul and Goyang, and as a short-term measure, considered upgrading the sound and lighting systems of regional sports facilities. However, simply adding speakers and lights does not resolve the bottlenecks facing top-tier K-pop concerts. A comprehensive industrial infrastructure is needed: not only routes to accommodate and control 50,000 audience members, but also a roof to block weather and noise, facilities for bringing in large-scale stage equipment, backstage structures, and a metropolitan transportation system to support late-night departures. Building a 50,000-seat concert dome is not just about expanding cultural facilities—it is a matter of competitiveness that can attract global entertainment capital to Korea.

Half of Pop Music Revenue Comes from Venues with Over 10,000 Seats

According to the "2025 Performance Market Ticket Sales Analysis" by the Korea Arts Management Service's KOPIS (Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System) released on June 1, there were 4,677 pop music performances held 7,749 times last year. A total of 7,642,999 tickets were sold, with ticket sales revenue reaching 981,722,860,000 won. Compared to the previous year, the number of performances increased by 17%, the number of showings by 17.6%, the number of tickets sold by 19.9%, and ticket sales revenue by 29%.

Blackpink is taking a photo with the audience in the background at the World Tour 'The Show' held at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong last January. Photo by YG Entertainment

In particular, the added value generated by large-scale venues stood out. In 2025, pop music performances held at venues with more than 10,000 seats recorded 3,575,433 tickets sold and sales revenue of 530,087,310,000 won. This accounts for 46.8% of all pop music concert tickets sold and 54% of total sales revenue. In other words, more than half of the capital in the pop music market is generated at large venues.

The growth rate is steep as well. Concerts with over 10,000 seats increased from 14 events (44 shows) in 2021 to 157 events (359 shows) in 2025—a more than tenfold increase. During the same period, ticket sales revenue expanded from 1,940,000,000 won to 530,100,000,000 won, about a 27-fold increase. While the number of such events is relatively small, they have become the core pillar of the market in terms of scale. This shows that the center of the pop music market has shifted from small and medium-sized venues to stadium-level performances.

Indeed, last July, pop music ticket sales revenue reached 110,100,000,000 won, and in December, it hit an annual peak of 130,400,000,000 won. This was due to the concentration of demand for large outdoor concerts in the summer and year-end concerts. Large-scale performances have now become the driving force behind the entire Korean pop music industry, going beyond being exclusive events for specific fandoms.

K-pop Artists Filling 50,000-Seat Venues Overseas

K-pop artists' drawing power has already been proven in overseas markets. BTS attracted 120,000 people over two days at Wembley Stadium in the UK in 2019. In 2021, they sold 214,000 tickets across four shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, generating about USD 33.3 million (approximately 5 billion won) in revenue. On their recent North American tour, they drew approximately 840,000 people with 15 performances in five cities.

BLACKPINK performed at Tokyo Dome (55,000 seats) in 2019, and in 2023, they took the stage at France's Stade de France, Europe's largest stadium with a capacity of 60,000. In 2024, TWICE became the first overseas female artist to attract 140,000 people over two days at Nissan Stadium, Japan's largest venue with a 70,000-seat capacity.

Overseas dome and stadium tours have now become routine for K-pop. SEVENTEEN attracted 144,000 people with two concerts at Nissan Stadium, and brought in 435,000 people through nine concerts at domes in Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Stray Kids drew 315,000 people through six shows at Tokyo Dome and Kyocera Dome, and attracted 220,000 people with four stadium concerts in Japan the following year.

Venues with a 50,000-seat capacity are not reserved only for top-tier artists. Mid-to-upper-tier acts such as aespa (94,000 at Tokyo Dome), G-Dragon (80,000 at Tokyo Dome), NCT (220,000 at stadiums in Japan), and ENHYPEN (400,000 across four Japanese cities) have also actively utilized infrastructure with more than 50,000 seats during their world tours.

Domestic demand has already been proven as well. IU and Lim Youngwoong each sold out two-day solo concerts at Seoul World Cup Stadium, drawing 100,000 people apiece. The market has grown to the point where not only idol groups, but also solo artists and trot singers, can attract 50,000 attendees in a single day. However, large-scale concerts in Korea still rely on renting sports facilities, not dedicated music domes.

K-pop Capital Earned Overseas Must Be Connected to the Domestic Ecosystem

The 50,000-seat concert dome is not merely a symbolic facility. It is the foundation for absorbing the K-pop capital that has grown in the global market into Korea. While Korean artists are filling Tokyo Dome and Wembley and generating massive profits, domestic entertainment agencies are still competing for sports venues and setting up temporary stages amid turf damage controversies at soccer stadiums.

The core of the concert venue infrastructure debate lies not in the number of seats, but in how to channel market capital into Korea. While a 20,000-seat arena increases the frequency of mid-to-large-scale performances and strengthens the industry ecosystem, a 50,000-seat dome serves to anchor mega world tour events in Korea.

It is positive that K-pop is selling out overseas stadiums, but if there is no domestic stage to match this demand, the added value—such as concert revenue, tourism consumption, and stage production technology—will inevitably accumulate abroad.

Lee Sungmin, Professor of Media and Video Studies at Korea National Open University, pointed out, "Even if content achieves global success, if the long-term revenue structure depends on overseas platforms, it is difficult for the domestic industry ecosystem to grow." He added, "For K-pop as well, it is essential to create a structure in which the copyright and intellectual property (IP) revenues and production capabilities generated by directly planning and operating mega global concerts in Korea are accumulated domestically."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.