| Keyword |
Description |
| Presale |
A special chance to buy tickets before the general public |
| Complaint |
When someone tells an authority or company that something was wrong or unfair |
| Chaos |
A state of complete confusion and lack of order |
When tickets for three BTS concerts in Mexico City went on sale, everything turned into a huge mess. In less than 40 minutes, all the tickets for the May shows at the 65,000-seat Estadio GNP Seguros were sold out, while more than 1.1 million people were waiting online to buy them. Many fans said the website crashed, the payment page froze, and they got error messages even when tickets still looked available. The special ARMY presale was supposed to help real fans, but many teenagers felt confused, stressed, and left out.
Things got worse when some people noticed that ticket prices seemed to change during the buying process. At the same time, photos appeared of people standing in line at ticket offices, even though sales were supposed to be only for fan club members, so many thought these were resellers trying to make money by selling tickets later at higher prices. Mexico’s consumer protection agency, Profeco, received thousands of complaints and started actions against Ticketmaster and resale websites for unclear information and unfair practices. The situation was so serious that President Claudia Sheinbaum talked about it, saying that about 1 million young people wanted to go, but there were only 150,000 tickets.
Because adding more concert dates was difficult, Sheinbaum said she wrote to South Korea’s prime minister asking BTS to come to Mexico more often and suggested putting up big screens so fans without tickets could still watch the shows. BTS, a seven-member K-pop group formed in 2013, is the best-selling band in South Korean history and one of the few non-English-language acts to sell out Wembley Stadium in London. Their new Arirang world tour, with 79 dates, is their first tour together again after finishing mandatory military service. The chaos in Mexico shows how powerful music fandom can be and how important it is to make ticket sales fair and transparent for young fans.
Bridging words
These words sound similar in English and Spanish: Why not practice them now?
| English |
Spanish |
| Message |
Mensaje |
| Process |
Proceso |
| Chaos |
Caos |
Time to discuss
- Is it fair that so many fans could not get tickets even though they waited online?
- Should companies be punished when ticket sales are confusing or feel unfair?
- Do you think big concerts should offer free public screens for fans without tickets?
Let's write
Answer the following questions in one paragraph:
- Write about a time when you wanted something very much (like tickets or a game) but could not get it. How did you feel?
- Imagine you are in charge of ticket sales for a BTS concert. What rules would you make to help young fans?
