UK watchdog issues warning to Ticketmaster over Oasis reunion tickets
UK watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, has warned legal action against Ticketmaster following the sale of tickets for the Oasis reunion tour.
In March, the CMA announced the conclusion of an investigation into the Oasis ticket pricing scandal involving dynamic pricing and claimed that Ticketmaster “may have breached” consumer protection law with its pricing structure.
One key area noted in their report was the use of pricing for Platinum tickets, which came with no additional benefits to tickets sold for £149 in the same area.
According to the regulator, Ticketmaster had not previously been told to fans that there were two pricing categories for standing tickets, which left many waiting in queues for several hours in the hope of acquiring £149 tickets, only to later discover the price was much higher once they reached checkout.
Now, in a letter to the business and trade select committee, the CMA has revealed it received a response from Ticketmaster earlier this month after they asked the ticketing service to implement changes that deal with their concerns.
The CMA wrote: “Having carefully considered Ticketmaster’s response, the CMA’s view is that there is a fundamental disagreement … about whether Ticketmaster’s practices infringed consumer law.”
The watchdog continued: “Ticketmaster has declined to provide undertakings in the terms sought by the CMA or indicate whether there is a form of undertakings which it would be prepared to offer.”
However, the CMA didn’t find evidence that Ticketmaster used an algorithmic dynamic pricing structure for Oasis tickets; they claim fans were “not given clear and timely information about how the pricing of standing tickets would work.”
Ticketmaster sold over 900,000 tickets to the Oasis reunion tour in the UK and Ireland alone.
After nearly a year of anticipation, Oasis Live ’25 is finally set to start on July 4th at the Prinipality Stadium in Cardiff.
Doors open at 17:00 on Friday, with Cast set to take to the stage at 18:00 before Richard Ashcroft performs at 19:00, and Oasis finally make their return after 16 years away at 20:15. The curfew at the Principality is 22:15.
Next week, Oasis will return home to Manchester to begin a four-date residency at the 80,000 capacity Heaton Park. They will also play seven shows at Wembley Stadium, three dates at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, and two nights at Dublin’s Croke Park.
The Oasis Live ’25 tour is also set to visit the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
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