Oasis concerts: Watchdog says ‘no evidence’ Ticketmaster used dynamic pricing

Ticketmaster’s controversial approach to the sale of tickets to Oasis concerts may have misled fans and breached consumer protection law, the Competition and Markets Authority has said.

Tickets for the band’s 17 UK dates in August and September this year went on sale in August 2024. Ahead of the sale, standing tickets were priced at £135 plus fees.

However, mid-sale, prospective buyers noted that general admission tickets were being sold at up to £355 plus fees on Ticketmaster, with the site rebranding them as ‘In Demand Standing’.

In a progress update on its investigation into Ticketmaster, The CMA said it is concerned the company may have breached consumer protection law by labelling certain seated tickets as “platinum” and selling them for nearly two and a half times the price of equivalent standard tickets.

It said Ticketmaster did this “without sufficiently explaining that they did not offer additional benefits and were often located in the same area of the stadium”.

“This risked giving consumers the misleading impression that platinum tickets were better,” the CMA said.

It added that Ticketmaster did not inform consumers that there were two categories of standing tickets at different prices, with all of the cheaper standing tickets sold first before the more expensive standing tickets were released.

It said this resulted in many fans waiting in a lengthy queue without understanding what they would be paying and then having to decide whether to pay a higher price than they expected.

Dynamic pricing

The CMA added that many fans were under the impression that Ticketmaster used an algorithmic pricing model during the Oasis sale, with ticket prices adjusted in real time according to changing conditions like high demand.

“The CMA has not found evidence that this was the case. Instead, Ticketmaster released a number of standing tickets at a lower price and, once they had sold out, then released the remaining standing tickets at a much higher price,” it said.

“Although prices were not adjusted in real time using an algorithm, the CMA is concerned that consumers were not given clear and timely information about how the pricing of standing tickets would work, particularly where many customers had to wait in lengthy queues to see what tickets were available.”

The CMA said that since the opening of its investigation, Ticketmaster has made changes to some aspects of its ticket sales process. But the watchdog “does not currently consider these changes are sufficient to address its concerns”.

It said it has provided Ticketmaster with details of further steps required to address its concerns and is seeking changes to Ticketmaster’s processes – including to the information it provides to customers, when it provides that information, and how it labels some of its tickets. The CMA is now in consultation with Ticketmaster on the proposed changes.

Hayley Fletcher, interim senior director of consumer protection at the CMA, said: “We’re concerned that Oasis fans didn’t get the information they needed or may have been misled into buying tickets they thought were better than they were.

“We now expect Ticketmaster to work with us to address these concerns so, in future, fans can make well-informed decisions when buying tickets.

“All ticketing websites should check they are complying with the law and treating their customers fairly. When businesses get it right, consumers benefit – and that’s the best outcome for everyone.”