“THE REAL FATHERS ARE COMING TO RULE”— Fans react as BTS’ 2025 world tour after military service is reported to draw 3.5 million attendees

Daishin Securities, a prominent South Korean financial firm, via Hankyung News, has analyzed the potential economic impact of BTS' highly anticipated return. On January 20, 2025, the firm released a report estimating the massive revenue the group could generate during their next world tour.

With the septet expected to make a full comeback this year, Daishin Securities projected an attendance of approximately 3.5 million fans. This figure translates to an estimated revenue of 800 billion KRW (around $600 million).

The report also highlighted j-hope's upcoming solo world tour, marking the first individual tour by a BTS member this year. His tour alone is predicted to surpass the revenue generated by previous solo tours from the other group members. Reacting to the same, a fan wrote on X:

“THE REAL FATHERS ARE COMING TO RULE THE INDUSTRY.”

Fans are already celebrating in anticipation of the group's collective return, acknowledging the cultural and economic ripple effects they will bring once all members are active again.

“EVERYONE IS TUNING IN FOR KINGS’ RETURN!!” a fan of exclaimed.

“All these entertainment companies, are gonna have to make sure not to have their comebacks around that time that they are coming back,” a fan wrote.

“HAPPY BTS YEAR,” a fan wished.

“Once again the industry aint ready,” another fan claimed.

Some other fans commented,

“This is INSANE,” a fan stated.

“And the numbers will be higher when they find out the demands,” another fan stated

“ITS GOING TO BE SO LEGENDARY,” another fan exclaimed.

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BTS' comeback album and tour are reportedly expected to blow up Korean economy

On January 20, Daishin Securities made a statement that HYBE is expected to see continued performance growth centered on concerts through next year, driven by the full-group comeback of BTS. The firm maintained a "buy" investment rating and a target price of 270,000 KRW.

Lim Soo-jin, a researcher at Daishin Securities, highlighted,

"BTS’ j-hope has announced plans for a world tour from next month through June, targeting an audience of around 500,000. This surpasses the scale of Suga’s 2023 world tour, which drew 320,000 attendees. Based on the average ticket sales price (ASP) at that time, estimated revenue could reach approximately 115 billion KRW."

She further continued, saying what’s significant is that entertainment companies and promoters typically take a conservative view when determining concert scales. However, they have also acknowledged the continued growth of BTS' fandom even during their military service period. Following the release of their album in Q4 last year, the group is expected to embark on a world tour starting next year, with a projected audience of 3.5 million and estimated concert revenue of 800 billion KRW.

Moreover, Lim predicted that, given the fact that this is a long-awaited world tour, the factoring of strong sales of merchandise such as light sticks and the total economic impact could amount to 1.5 trillion KRW, sustaining high growth through next year.

HYBE is projected to have recorded its highest-ever quarterly revenue in Q4 last year. However, increased content production costs and the reflection of performance bonuses are expected to lead to operating profit falling below market consensus (the average estimate by securities firms).

Daishin Securities has estimated HYBE’s consolidated Q4 revenue at 673.1 billion KRW, up 10.6% year-on-year, and operating profit at 79.5 billion KRW, down 11%. The operating profit forecast slightly falls short of the market consensus of 84 billion KRW.

In this way, as much as anticipation exists surrounding BTS' comeback, there also lies a lot of number play due to the surge it will bring to the Korean economy.