Executive Profile: Move Concerts’ Alejandro Pabón On Historic Bad Bunny Residency

Bad Bunny is full of surprises. The man who set the modern, post-pandemic template for stadium tours back in 2022 when his “World’s Hottest Tour” shattered records and made him one of the most successful live acts of all time zagged two years later by forgoing large venues and embarking on an arena tour to give fans a more intimate experience.

In 2025, the Puerto Rican artist made another yet another move that shocked many in the live entertainment industry: instead of another major arena or stadium tour to promote his latest (and critically lauded) album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, which translates to I Should Have Taken More Photos, Bad Bunny announced a residency in his native Puerto Rico.

It’s a bold move from the global superstar and his manager Noah Assad of Rimas Entertainment, one that is going to pay off not only for Bad Bunny but for his home as well. The “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí” (“I Don’t Want To Leave Here”) residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico reportedly sold out in just four hours, including 80,000 hotel packages and more than 400,000 tickets, and the 30 dates from July 11 to Sept. 14 will certainly boost the local economy with visitors from the U.S., Mexico and Europe.

The homecoming shows promoted by Assad and Move Concerts promise to be a celebration of the territory, allowing Bad Bunny to highlight Puerto Rico’s rich culture and music.

Working alongside Assad on the residency is standout Alejandro Pabón, who is a promoter at Move Concerts and head of operations at Rimas Nation. The Puerto Rican promoter has worked with major artists like Karol G, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé.

The Puerto Rican event producer pulled off a unique onsale for the first nine shows of the residency, which were exclusive to island residents. The team announced nine selling points where fans could gather and later scan a QR code that allowed them to purchase a ticket on their phone, harkening back to the old days of waiting in line at the box office and sprinkling modern tech to the process.

The artist and team continues to innovate the live experience with the biggest residency Puerto Rico has ever seen. Pabón took to the time to chat with Pollstar about the historic event and what it means to him to help Bad Bunny put their home on the live music map.

Pollstar: It’s really interesting to see someone like Bad Bunny do a residency like this. Tell me about this idea and how you guys pulled it off.
Alejandro Pabón: Everything comes from the artist. That’s the beauty of this. It all comes from Bad Bunny, and we execute. The biggest thing that he wanted after the album, which was very much about Puerto Rico, was to give this chance to prove what Puerto Ricans can do. He came up with this idea and we were starstruck by it.

He wanted to ensure a lot of people from home could attend those shows, so that’s why we sold the first nine shows on-premise only — no digital sales. He also wanted to make sure that everybody from the island had the opportunity to get tickets. That’s why we did nine selling points around the island and area, but it was definitely challenging.

The ticket company came up with a great idea, and we used some flyers which had unique QR codes where you scan them right there and you can buy your ticket on your phone. So, it’s like an onsale on premises but it’s also digital in a way. That was the only way we could sell more than 100,000 tickets [in person] in one day, and it worked.

I imagine this was something that you and Noah have been working on for quite some time.
It was more than a year ago. When I learned about it, it shocked me. They always find ways to surprise me.

The thing about [Bad Bunny and Assad] is that business is not the most important thing. We really do our work from the heart, and that’s why all of this happens. We do good business, but their main goal is to lift the culture of Puerto Rico, and everybody else that they work with wants the same. I think it shows in what we do.

Bad Bunny has really taken Puerto Rico and its music to another level with his meteoric rise. What does his ascension to becoming a global superstar say about the island creatively and as a market in the live industry?
Obviously, we all know that about the hotbed of talent and everything that comes out of here. It’s been happening since I can remember with the Ricky Martins of the world and artists like Chayanne.

For me, it’s cultural. It’s about going to a show in the Coliseo. It’s not just going to a concert. It’s what’s happening that night, that entire weekend, and if you want to be part of what’s happening, you have to be there. This is what people talk about. Being on a small island, you don’t want to feel left out of the “it” moment.

We obviously love the music. It’s our identity and in our blood. We don’t have many places to hang out, so we go to El Choli (an endearing term locals have for the Coliseo). It’s the safest venue, it has air conditioning, it’s really comfortable. It’s the best option when you want to do something.

It’s interesting to see the evolution of reggaeton and Puerto Rican music over the years through Bad Bunny and other artists. How has the island evolved as a market over the years, especially after we adjusted to life with COVID?
It’s a challenge. With my trajectory now, which has been 15 years, we know everybody and we have close relationships with managers and artists, and we’re constantly talking about what’s next and what we’re doing. We have a plan, right? Let’s build this.

And sometimes we’re doing this two years before. It’s a lot of planning now and understanding what the artists want to do and finding a way how we can fit this to live. So, we’re very big on the rollouts and the album that’s coming.

Sometimes you see our grosses, it’s not that high compared to other markets, but we’re always looking for volume, for quantity. That’s the formula that has worked for us. That’s why we can do like six arena shows with Jowell y Randy, which is unthinkable in other markets.

One of the major successes you had with Noah was bringing the WWE to Puerto Rico in 2023. What can you tell me about that experience?
That was the first time in more than 20 years that WWE came to our home. I promoted non-televised wrestling shows before, and the stars aligned recently with Noah and Bad Bunny liking the WWE stuff.

So he started the conversations with the head of WWE and then we made it work. We found the money that we needed to do that show, and what happened was really special. It was one of the best crowds that WWE has put out there. We did two sold-out nights, and Bunny really put on a show. He actually sacrificed his body. It was the real deal. He does what he wants and he earns it and does it well.

He put the island on the map in a different perspective, and every time we do something that makes Puerto Rico stand out globally, that is extra special for me and Noah because we’re so much into our culture and everything that means to be Boricua.

What are you looking forward to personally when it comes to “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí?”
Just the impact that we will have locally — all the people traveling from abroad and experiencing our culture and mingling with locals. In my eyes, the impact that we will have locally. I want to see all those weekends full of people hanging out in bars and eating our food. It’s going to be all over social media and all over the newspapers.

Putting ourselves in the eyes of the world, I’m really looking forward to that.