Officials in the United Kingdom have promised that they will take a hard look at the practice of “dynamic pricing” for event tickets in the wake of widespread complaints during the Oasis reunion tour ticket sale last week. Consumers fumed over the sale, which saw many sit through lengthy wait times, only to see “in demand” prices surged to several hundred pounds higher than the advertised amount with minutes to make the decision.
“It is scandalous to see our country’s biggest cultural moments being turned into obscene cash cows by greedy promoters and ticketing websites,” Liberal Democrats culture spokesperson and member of parliament Jamie Stone told reporters. “The Oasis ticket fiasco must be a watershed moment and lead to an official investigation, either by the watchdog or a parliamentary body.”
Despite significant pre-sale press that the band and its promoters were making efforts to keep consumer prices down by banning ticket transferability, and locking any resale to Ticketmaster’s system and Twickets – both of which would be capped at the original price paid by the person listing the tickets for resale – prices were often far higher for those able to get tickets into their shopping cart during a process that was reportedly full of glitches and other technical issues.
Standing tickets at one venue were increased to £337.50 plus fees, despite having an original face value of £135. In Ireland, tickets for the band’s Croke Park gigs in Dublin were increased from €86.50 (£75) to €415.50 (£350).
On Monday, the Advertising Standards Authority said that it has already received 450 complaints regarding the Oasis tour ticket sales process. The complaints were all related to tickets being advertised for one price by the event organizers, only to have consumers shown another (significantly higher) price during checkout.
“There are a number of things that we can” and “should do,” says Prime Minister Kier Starmer, “Otherwise, you get to the situation where families simply can’t go or are absolutely spending a fortune on tickets,” Starmer said in an interview with BBC Radio about the ticket sales mess. He said the government will consider changes to existing law in the wake of this and other high profile ticketing snafus, “which may well [lead to] adjustments.”
Dynamic pricing is not new – though its use has been more rare abroad than in the United States. It is a system where event organizers and artists allow Ticketmaster or other primary sales partners to sharply increase prices during moments of peak demand, such as presales or the initial phase of general sales. While its supporters argue that such practices discourage “scalping” by making it harder for people to turn a profit by reselling tickets, it has drawn extreme backlash from fans, who often eel ripped off by the very bands they are trying to see.
Bruce Springsteen made headlines in 2022 with the ticket prices for his tour with the E Street Band, which featured widespread use of dynamic pricing for shows in North America. The singer, who has made a career out of projecting a “working class” sensibility – not unlike Oasis – shrugged off the fan complaints, though tour sales suffered in several markets.
“What I do is a very simple thing. I tell my guys, “Go out and see what everybody else is doing. Let’s charge a little less,” he told reporter Andy Greene at the time. “That’s generally the directions. They go out and set it up. For the past 49 years or however long we’ve been playing, we’ve pretty much been out there under market value. I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been great for the fans.”
“This time I told them, “Hey, we’re 73 years old. The guys are there. I want to do what everybody else is doing, my peers.” So that’s what happened. That’s what they did [laughs].”
Oasis have not yet responded to the firestorm of criticism over their approval of dynamic pricing for their tour.
Oasis 2025 Tour Dates
07/04 – Cardiff, UK @ Principality Stadium
07/05 – Cardiff, UK @ Principality Stadium
07/11 – Manchester, UK @ Heaton Park
07/12 – Manchester, UK @ Heaton Park
07/16 – Manchester, UK @ Heaton Park
07/19 – Manchester, UK @ Heaton Park
07/20 – Manchester, UK @ Heaton Park
07/25 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
07/26 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
07/30– London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
08/02 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
08/03 – London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
08/08 – Edinburgh, UK @ Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
08/09 – Edinburgh, UK @ Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
08/12 – Edinburgh, UK @ Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
08/16 – Dublin, IE @ Croke Park
08/17 – Dublin, IE @ Croke Park
