Entertainment

Brazil Orders Five Resale Sites to Halt New Ticket Resales as BTS Play São Paulo

Brazil's consumer secretariat gave StubHub, viagogo and three other platforms 72 hours to stop brokering new resales, ahead of BTS'são Paulo shows.

By The BB Report October 28, 2026

Brazil Orders Five Resale Sites to Halt New Ticket Resales as BTS Play São Paulo — Members of BTS speak at the White House press briefing room in Washington in May 2022. Photo: The White House / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Key takeaways

Brazil’s consumer agency Senacon ordered five resale platforms to stop brokering new ticket resales across the country within 72 hours of notification.
The agency says the companies appear to have broken a decree signed on 31 August that requires clear seller identification, total prices and working complaint channels.
Each company faces a potential fine of 100,000 reais a day if it does not comply, and viagogo says it has already met the decree’s requirements.

Brazil’s national consumer secretariat has ordered five ticket resale platforms to stop handling new resales in the country while K-pop group BTS play three sold-out shows at São Paulo’s Morumbis stadium on 28, 30 and 31 October. The order, published in the official gazette on 28 October, names StubHub, viagogo, TicketSwap Brasil, BuyTicket and Global Entretenimento (FunBuyNet).

The agency, known as Senacon, says the companies appear to have breached a consumer decree signed on 31 August that sets the rules for ticket resale. The measure is precautionary rather than a final finding, and the companies can contest it.

What the Order Requires

Senacon’s order was published in the Diário Oficial da União on 28 October, Conexão MT reported. It gives each company 72 hours from the moment it is notified to suspend the brokering of new ticket resales for events in Brazil.

The order is not limited to BTS; it covers new resales for events across Brazil. The measure stays in force until the companies demonstrate compliance with the information and transparency obligations set by consumer law. People who have already bought resale tickets must still receive them in time to attend the event, and the order does not cancel completed purchases.

If a company does not comply, it faces a potential daily fine of 100,000 reais. Digital Music News put that at around $18,621. Conexão MT reports that if non-compliance continues, Senacon may temporarily suspend the platforms’ activity and access in Brazil.

Reports differ on how far the order goes. Digital Music News described it as an order to suspend operations. TicketNews and Conexão MT reported that the websites themselves are not shut down and that the measure applies to new resales only.

The Order in Brief

Issued by Senacon, Brazil’s national consumer secretariat; published in the Diário Oficial da União on 28 October 2026. Targets StubHub, viagogo, TicketSwap Brasil, BuyTicket and Global Entretenimento (FunBuyNet). Deadline: 72 hours from notification. Penalty: 100,000 reais a day per company. BTS are scheduled to play the Morumbis stadium in São Paulo on 28, 30 and 31 October.

What Senacon Says the Platforms Got Wrong

The order rests on Technical Note No. 41/2026, which Conexão MT says points to signs that the companies are not following Decree No. 13,108, known as the Fan Decree, and the Consumer Defense Code. Four failings are cited: insufficient information on whether sellers are individuals or businesses, incomplete disclosure of the total price including fees and taxes, weak channels for complaints and reports of abusive listings, and problems with exercising cancellation rights.

TicketNews describes the action as precautionary, rather than a final finding that the companies violated Brazilian law.

Separately, Senacon opened four new sanction proceedings, against StubHub, TicketSwap Brasil, BuyTicket and Global Entretenimento. The companies can present a defence. Allegations concerning viagogo will be incorporated into an existing administrative proceeding involving that company.

The Fan Decree and the BTS Sale

The decree at the centre of the case was signed on 31 August by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Digital Music News calls it Brazil’s "Taylor Swift law" and says it requires resale sites to show the original price and every added charge. It also sets rules on virtual queues, on cancellation and transfer rights and on refunds when events change, and it requires resale companies to give the government access to their data. TicketNews refers to it as the Fan Decree.

BTS’s record-breaking ARIRANG World Tour is scheduled for three nights at the Morumbis. Digital Music News reports an expected attendance of more than 200,000 across the three dates. When general sales opened, tickets sold out in under an hour and a half, according to CNN Brasil, which reported demand of more than 3.7 million tickets, equal to more than 48 full Morumbis stadiums. Ticketmaster said in a press statement that more than 1.9 million people were in its sales system during the three sales days, and CNN Brasil reported that Brazilians made up more than 97% of buyers.

Brazil’s decree places obligations on the resale marketplaces themselves, not only on the companies that sell tickets first. Senacon’s order is directed at the five resale platforms.

The order is not limited to BTS; it covers new resales for events across Brazil.

The Companies’ Response and What Comes Next

Viagogo, which TicketNews describes as StubHub’s parent company, rejected the suggestion that it is non-compliant. In a statement to the outlet it said it had "implemented all platform requirements" under the decree, and called the matter a misunderstanding that it would resolve promptly. It did not say whether it would challenge the order.

The next steps are procedural. The 72-hour period runs from each company’s notification, the four new sanction proceedings begin with the companies’ chance to defend themselves, and the existing viagogo case continues. The suspension stays in force until the companies show compliance with the information and transparency obligations.

Brazil is not the only country working on the issue. Digital Music News notes that the United States has the TICKET Act, which would require sellers to show total prices and itemise fees, and which passed the House of Representatives on 29 April 2025. Maine and Washington, D.C. have since passed their own price-disclosure laws, and the outlet counts 12 states and the capital with bans on speculative ticketing, meaning listing tickets the seller does not yet hold.

For BTS fans, the practical effect is limited in the short term: the shows are sold out and the order concerns new resales, not tickets already sold. For the resale industry, the order shows that Brazil is prepared to act against marketplaces in the middle of a tour, and that seller identity, total pricing and complaint channels are now obligations the regulator intends to enforce.