Politicians are calling for an investigation into Ticketmaster’s pricing system after fans paid “extortionate” prices for Oasis’ upcoming reunion.
Hundreds of thousands of people queued online this morning for tickets to Oasis ‘25, coming to Croke Park next August.
Many fans missed out on tickets due to high levels of traffic crashing the site – while those who managed to get tickets were shocked to see the prices.
While standing tickets were advertised at €86.50 plus booking fees last week, Ticketmaster’s ‘in-demand’ pricing raised the cost to over €400 for some fans.
The Ticketmaster UK site shows hundreds of thousands of people in the online queue as Oasis reunion tour tickets go on sale. Image: Vuk Valcic / Alamy Stock PhotoDublin MEP Regina Doherty has called for an investigation into Ticketmaster’s pricing system by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CPCC).
She said the increased price of tickets compared to what was advertised is “not transparent advertising and certainly not fair to consumers”.
“The EU's Digital Services Act has sections included specifically to ensure large platforms that control aspects of the digital economy don’t just make up their own rules that are unfair for consumers,” she said.
“I think Ticketmaster’s ‘in-demand’ pricing structure certainly needs investigating in this context.
“Every ticket for these gigs was always going to be ‘in-demand’ so slapping an extra label and €300 on some standing tickets is just extortionate.
“There is more than enough evidence just from this morning that it’s worth looking at the advertising and pricing around these larger gigs in Ireland.”
"In demand standing ticket" is just a standard standing ticket except double the price.
No difference between Ticketmaster and touts.#OasisDublin pic.twitter.com/IcfX715wEJ
— Darragh Moriarty (@darragh_mor) August 31, 2024
Fine Gael candidate for Fingal West Grace Boland said ‘no-way-sis' to the price of tickets – and said Ticketmaster “made a mockery of gig-goers”.
“Like many 90s kids, I was gutted to find myself stuck in a queue all morning trying to access tickets that were simply never going to be realised,” she said.
“The one or two who I spoke with that were lucky enough to get through found themselves left with only the choice of extortionate platinum tickets costing €490.50 or in-demand standing tickets priced at €415.50.
“Fans who joined the queue early, only to find themselves behind tens of thousands of others, were left with no choice but to purchase these premium tickets.”
Ticketmaster prices
Ms Boland accused Ticketmaster of “incorporating tout pricing” into the face value of the tickets.
“It's unacceptable, and it’s clear as day that Ticketmaster is working to achieve what ticket touts were doing, only now it's being done in plain sight under the guise of 'premium' pricing,” she said.
She also called for a “serious investigation” by the CCPC.
A Ticketmaster spokesperson told Newstalk the company “does not set any ticket prices” of advertised events, with pricing decided by “promoters and artists”.
According to Ticketmaster’s website, ‘in-demand’ or ‘platinum’ tickets are set at “market-based prices”.
