aespa Concerts: Brazil Attendance and Korean Ticket Prices Examined

aespa's recent concerts have sparked discussions regarding attendance and pricing strategies, particularly following their large-scale world tour stop in Brazil. Despite drawing over 20,000 attendees, the São Paulo concert faced criticism for visible empty seats, leading to questions about venue selection and ticket sales tactics. This situation highlights the challenges of accurately scaling concert venues for international tours.

In São Paulo on September 4, 2026, aespa performed at a venue with 28,732 seats, but only 21,652 tickets were sold, resulting in approximately 7,000 unsold seats. The concert organizer, Live Nation Brazil, offered a substantial 60% discount on general standing and north-side seats until the day before the show. Original VIP packages, such as the Send-Off VIP, were priced at 2,689 Brazilian Reais, plus a 20% online service fee. This contrasts with their 2023 São Paulo concert, which sold out an 8,000-seat venue, indicating a significant threefold expansion in venue size for the 2026 event. Meanwhile, aespa's Gocheok Sky Dome concert in Korea (August 7-8, 2026) featured tickets priced at 198,000 KRW for COMPLaeXITY seats and 165,000 KRW for general seats, with some seats remaining available closer to the event.

Local bloggers noted that while the Brazil concert attracted a large audience, the rapid expansion of the venue size beyond the actual ticket sales capacity created the impression of empty spaces. For the Gocheok Sky Dome concert, attendees observed a significant presence of international fans and found that even from the third floor, the overall stage view was clear, though individual members were hard to discern without optical aids. Bloggers emphasized the visual impact of aespa members in person, particularly highlighting Ningning's striking appearance. The experience underscored that even with high attendance, venue scaling is crucial for fan perception.