BTS Opened in Mexico City. The Merch Was Gone Before Fans Got In.
BTS played the first of three sold-out shows at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City on Thursday. Before the concert started, videos circulating on social media showed individuals without visible staff credentials loading large plastic bags of official merchandise from the outdoor booths - clearing stock while fans who had lined up from 4 a.m. watched from behind the queue.
Purchase limits had already been tightened ahead of the Mexico City stop, reduced from one item of each product per person to a single item total. Those limits were bypassed entirely by the individuals in the videos, according to fans on-site and accounts posted to X. Some fans reported being told that merchandise sales would be shut down entirely if they continued to complain. Others speculated on social media that stadium staff had coordinated with resellers for payment, though no official investigation has been announced. HYBE had issued a prior statement warning against unauthorized merchandise sales and designated the official booths as the only legitimate purchasing option.
The scene repeated - at a smaller scale - the same dynamic that defined the ticket sale for these three shows in January. At that point, 1.1 million people queued online for 136,400 seats. Mexico's Federal Consumer Protection Agency, Profeco, subsequently opened fine proceedings of more than 5 million pesos (approximately $277,800) against Ticketmaster México, and the country's president wrote a diplomatic letter to South Korea's head of state requesting additional BTS dates. The concerts were always going to happen under pressure; the question was whether the infrastructure would hold. On opening night, the merchandise operation didn't.
BigHit Music has not issued a statement about the merch incident as of Thursday evening KST. BTS performs at Estadio GNP Seguros again on Saturday, May 9, and Sunday, May 10. The next leg of the Arirang World Tour moves to the United States, with shows in California and Nevada in the second half of May.
