The UK competition watchdog has written to Ticketmaster threatening legal action over its “misleading” methods of selling tickets for the Oasis reunion tour, which is set begin later this week.
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In March, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned that Ticketmaster may have “breached the law” and “misled fans” during the sale last summer. It launched an investigation following controversy surrounding the Oasis Live ‘25 ticket sale, which left thousands of fans infuriated as the cost of tickets appeared to surge due to demand without warning. Some ended up paying over £350 for tickets which had an initial face value of £150.
The watchdog was concerned that Ticketmaster may have “breached consumer protection law” in two main ways. One of these concerns involved the labelling certain seated tickets as ‘platinum’ which were sold for up to “near 2.5 times the price of equivalent standard tickets, without sufficiently explaining that they did not offer additional benefits and were often located in the same area of the stadium”. They claim this misled customers into thinking platinum tickets were better than standard tickets.
Secondly, Ticketmaster may also have broken the law by not informing consumers that there were two categories of standing tickets at different prices. It added that all of the cheaper tickets were sold first before the more expensive tickets were released, leading to customers waiting for long periods without understanding they would have to pay more.
The CMA added that despite the widely reported effect of so-called ‘dynamic pricing’ on the Oasis sale, where ticket prices fluctuate in real time based on levels of demand, they have “not found evidence that this was the case”.
Oasis have said that they “at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used” in the sale, claiming that “prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster and the band’s management resulted in a positive ticket sale strategy, which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting, the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations.”
In response, Ticketmaster said it had changed “some aspects” of its process for selling tickets. However, the CMA said that they didn’t sufficiently address its concerns and later told Ticketmaster the voluntary undertakings it would accept instead.
Now, according to a letter to the business and trade select committee, the CMA said it received a response from Ticketmaster this month.
“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,” it said in a section of the letter relating to the Oasis investigation, published today (July 2).
“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.”
Due to the failure of the consultation process with Ticketmaster, the watchdog said it was now in a position to consider legal action.
“The CMA has written to Ticketmaster to confirm that it has now discharged its obligation to consult with Ticketmaster and, given that no undertakings have been offered or agreed, is now preparing to litigate the matter if necessary,” it said in the letter.
“The CMA will, in parallel, continue to engage with Ticketmaster in an effort to secure a voluntary resolution, should it indicate a clear and timely commitment to do so.”
NME has approached Ticketmaster for comment.
The Oasis reunion tour will kick off this Friday (July 4) at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. It is the first of 19 shows in the UK and Ireland, with support acts Richard Ashcroft and Cast.
Ahead of the shows kicking off, Liam recently revealed that the opening show in Cardiff will have a start time of 8:15pm, telling fans: “Don’t be late or we’ll start without you and you don’t want that now do ya”. Yesterday, doors and stage times for the opening acts were revealed on social media.
Preparations are well underway, and on Monday (June 30), footage of Oasis allegedly soundchecking within the Principality Stadium was also shared online. If you’re heading down to the show, you can also check out the weather forecast here.
Oasis’ UK and Ireland run includes seven dates at London’s Wembley Stadium, and will be followed by gigs in Canada, the US and Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. The 2025 tour consists of 41 dates in total, ending on November 23 in São Paulo.
Meanwhile, Lidl revealed a special edition ‘Lidl By Lidl’ jacket in celebration of the tour. The limited edition coat named after the band’s 2002 ‘Heathen Chemistry’ single ‘Little By Little’ features “drink-cooling pockets, a bottle opener for a zipper, a ‘Lidl By Lidl’ badge and an accompanying tambourine”, according to press release.
