The United Kingdom competition watchdog is investigating Ticketmaster over concerns about the company’s mistreatment of users for the 2025 Oasis shows in the UK. This probe by the UK government is yet another issue for its parent company, Live Nation, which also facing an antitrust lawsuit in the United States which could make the company break up.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Thursday, September 5 that it would investigate whether fans who were told the tickets were subject to the so-called dynamic pricing, where the platform would adjust ticket prices based on factors such as demand.
Even though this modality of sales is not illegal in the United Kingdom, the CMA announced that it may breach consumer protection and competition law under certain circumstances. But its investigation will also focus on finding out whether people were pressured into buying tickets at a higher price than what they had previously understood.
The Ticketmaster Website should be transparent with the prices for the Oasis gigs
While commenting on the Ticketmaster – Oasis case, the CMA stated that “Consumer Law is clear”, and ticket sites must be transparent with users over the prices being offered. The authority also said that according to this law, companies like Ticketmaster must give clear and accurate information about the offered prices to their customers.
The CMA has also announced that depending on the evidence they collect, they could close the investigation and seize the undertakings from Ticketmaster to deal with concerns and take legal action against the company.
The authority will be able to impose fines when the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act comes into effect in late 2024.
Despite Ticketmaster’s cooperation with the CMA, the investigation is still very much open, especially after massive complaints from Oasis fans on social media.
Some hardcore fans trying to get tickets for the legendary band’s reunion were in the queue for five hours, only to be met by an error message reading “Your Session has been suspended.”
The CMA’s CEO, Sarah Cardell explained that it has become overwhelmingly clear to the authority that many people feel as if they were treated unfairly during the process and were also surprised by their checkout price due to the dynamic price modality.
The company is under heavy fire in the UK and the US
The Oasis reunion was always going to be, in the words of frontman Liam Gallagher, ‘biblical’, so ticket controversy was pretty much expected.
This was especially so because Ticketmaster had previously come under fire for the way they handled the sales of tickets for Taylor Siwft’s massively popular Eras Tour in 2022.
The mishandling of the “Eras Tour” prompted the New York Justice Department, alongside 30 state and district attorney generals, to put together a groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit that would seek a jury trial and the subsequent break up of the company.