What Big Hit Entertainment’s New Concert Raffle Policy Means For BTS Fans
On August 21, Big Hit Entertainment’s co-CEO’s Bang Shi Hyuk and Yoon Seok Jun held a corporate meeting in Seoul, South Korea. After the briefing, Big Hit Entertainment announced the company’s 2019 revenue and upcoming changes for BTS. Among those changes, Big Hit Entertainment plans to introduce a new raffle ticketing system for BTS’s international concerts. So what does this mean for BTS fans?
Big Hit Entertainment introduced the new ticketing system in South Korea in June
Every year, BTS holds a celebration concert with fans called Muster. Big Hit Entertainment introduced the new ticketing system in June 2019 for BTS’s 5th Muster. The company implemented the new ticketing policy again for BTS’s upcoming Love Yourself: Speak Yourself [The Final] in Seoul.
It seems Big Hit Entertainment found success with the lottery ticketing system and plans to implement it around the world for BTS’s international concerts.
“The ticketing lottery system will gradually be used for overseas tours to improve fans’ experiences,” said Yoon Seok Jun.
How does the new raffle system work for BTS concerts?
In theory, the new lottery ticketing system eliminates unfair ticket purchasing circumstances for fans like scalpers. There are several parts to this new system.
First, there is the Fan Club Raffle. To enter the raffle, fans must be a member of the BTS Global Official Fanclub ARMY. The raffle is used solely for the reservation of floor and first level tickets for BTS concerts. Fan club members are given the opportunity to enter the raffle a few months before the concert. For the final Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour dates, members had from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7 to enter through the Weply app. First round winners were announced Aug. 14 and second round winners will be announced Aug. 22.
If selected, winners of the raffle are allowed to claim one ticket. After reserving a ticket, they will be assigned a seat closer to the actual concert date. Any unclaimed floor or first level seats from the raffle become part of the second stage, the Fan Club Early Reservation.
Fans must also be members of the BTS Global Official Fanclub ARMY to participate in the Fan Club Early Reservation. The Early Reservation period for Love Yourself: Speak Yourself [The Final] is Sept. 25 through Sept. 26. Fan club members can reserve up to two tickets from the remaining raffle seats and seats around the rest of the venue.
After both the Fan Club Raffle and Early Reservation period conclude, tickets become available for the general public.
How does Big Hit Entertainment’s new raffle policy make ticket purchasing easier for fans?
Anyone who wins floor or first level tickets in the raffle cannot resell their tickets. In order to claim their raffle ticket, the name used by the BTS fan must match the name used for their membership ID, in the Weply app, on Weverse, and in the ticket purchasing system, Interpark. To get to their seat at the concert, the name on a BTS fan’s ticket must match the name on their membership ID and their official ID like a passport.
This means scalpers cannot buy tickets and resell them at a higher price, because the name on the ticket would not match the ID of the person attending the concert. With Big Hit Entertainment’s lottery system, the best seats at each concert go by complete luck instead of who can pay the highest price to a scalper.
International BTS fans had strong reactions to the news
Since word got out, #BigHit has been trending in the United States. International BTS fans strongly reacted to the raffle announcement. In order to enter the raffle, fans must pay for the annual membership. Even if they pay for the membership, there is no guarantee they will win floor or first level seats.
“Youre telling me bighit can make up this whole new lottery system but cant even add subs to their bangtan bombs,” wrote a fan on Twitter.
“A RAFFLE? bighit what are you doing, my chances for getting bts tickets went from .0009 to .0000000000000009%,” wrote another.
There is no guarantee every fan wins the raffle and winners are only allowed to reserve one seat. Because of this, friends most likely cannot sit together at a concert.
“NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS DUMB RAFFLE/LOTTERY SYSTEM. I DO NOT WANNA SIT WITH RANDOM PEOPLE AT A BTS CONCERT. I WANNA SIT WITH MY FRIENDS. BH DONT YOU DARE……,” wrote a Twitter user.
Other fans defended the new ticketing system. “Only a certain percentage of the tickets can be won through the raffle the other remaining percentage of tickets will be open for general sales Ticketing through this method will prevent overseas SCALPERS from victimizing ARMYs,” a fan tweeted.
