K-Pop Group Stray Kids Sets New North American Tour Dates; Fans Lambast Ticket Scalpers
Fresh from its highly successful sold-out performances in Seoul, K-pop group Stray Kids has announced new concert dates in North America for its "Maniac Tour." Unfortunately, one of the shows has already been marked "sold out," enraging fans who have been speaking out against ticket scalping.
The eight-member group's tour just got a Seattle leg, and it is happening at Climate Pledge Arena on July 14 and 15. This will be followed by two shows at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, which are set for July 19 and 20, Koreaboo reported.
The new concert dates were announced in a tweet Wednesday. Tickets for the concerts will be sold at livenation.com starting May 9. However, the show happening on July 14 has already been marked "sold out."
Previously, Stray Kids also added two stops to the original lineup of shows for the group's second world tour. It was in response to fans clamoring for additional shows. Unfortunately, these concerts, which were set to take place in Newark and Los Angeles, quickly sold out as well.
Online ticket seller Ticketmaster then received backlash from Stray Kids supporters, collectively known as STAY, for its confusing system of selling tickets. The fandom became even more infuriated as fans felt left out after scalpers allegedly secured most of the tickets sold on the platform only to resell them at much higher prices.
"This is unacceptable. Buy back the tickets so actual fans can get to them. The ability resellers have to do this is horrendous," a Stray Kids fan account tweeted, urging JYP Entertainment and Stray Kids U.S. promoter Republic Records to remedy the situation and give STAY a chance to watch the shows.
Frustrated fans rehashed their complaints against scalpers Thursday.
"hi y'all if anyone is selling a stray kids ticket to chicago preferably a floor ticket that’s NOT a $1000 hit me up unless you're a filthy scammer i'm very sad and i want to see them," a fan wrote in a tweet.
"I'm sorry but this is so stupid. 1) You now have 5 shows in California... not an additional show for Texas or Chicago? 2) All the shows have SEVERAL scalped and resold tickets for EXTREME prices. This is not helping Stays see Stray Kids this is just making it more difficult," another fan wrote.
Another frustrated fan tweeted, "man I just wanna go to the concert without having to sell my limbs for a ticket from a scalper."
Ticket scalping has been a huge problem in the United States, with lawmakers waging a war against these resellers "practically since the term began being used in reference to the 'sidewalk men' outside Broadway theaters in the late 19th century," according to Pitchfork.
In 2016, the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act) was signed into law. It bans the use of automated bots to secure tickets for public events and even makes it illegal for scalpers to sell these tickets, Eurogamer reported.
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