Earlier today, The Guardian reported that the Competition and Markets Authority, a UK watchdog that aims to enforce healthy marketing competition practices, now believes that Ticketmaster may have broken consumer protection law during its handling of the Oasis reunion tour.

The series of Oasis comeback gigs across the UK and abroad were mostly supported through the ticket distribution company Ticketmaster. During the initial sale for the eighteen tour dates in the UK and Ireland, fans began to notice sudden changes in prices: a standing ticket originally valued at £135 hiked to £337.50 (not including fees), due to "demand." This was allegedly a conseqeunce of Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing model, which inflates prices on the same seat based on consumer demand and overall ticket availability. (The Guardian compares it to Uber's surge pricing practice.)

Oasis put out several statements during the UK/Ireland tour sale addressing the accusations of dynamic pricing. Their management declared they were unaware of Ticketmaster's implemention of the model, stating:

"As for the well-reported complaints many buyers had over the operation of Ticketmaster’s dynamic ticketing: it needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”

When the tour dates for North and Latin America were announced, the band issued several statements promising that dynamic pricing would not affect the ticket prices. "It is widely accepted that dynamic pricing remains a useful tool to combat ticket touting and keep prices...lower than the market rate," they posted to the band's official X (formerly Twitter) page. "But, when unprecedented ticket demand...is combined with technology that cannot cope with that demand, it becomes less effective..."

The CMA's investigation said Ticketmaster may have broken consumer protection law by misleading costumers in order to justify the inflated prices of tickets. They labeled certain seats as “platinum” and "sold them for almost 2.5 times the price of standard equivalent tickets," per The Guardian, "without sufficiently explaining that they did not offer any additional benefits and were often located in the same area of a stadium as standard tickets."

“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,” interim Senior Director of Consumer Protection at the CMA Hayley Fletcher told The Guardian.

CMA further noted that fans were under the impression that Ticketmaster was adjusting Oasis ticket prices based on the dynamic pricing model, which changes costs in real time in line with demand. This was not the case, as the CMA did not find any evidence to support that. Instead, Ticketmaster reportedly sold a primary batch of tickets under one price, and when those quickly sold out, they released another, more expensive one. Fans waiting in queues for a long time reportedly did not know when the second batch was released during the sale.

"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,” said the CMA in its report, as printed in The Guardian. Irish fans in particular fell victim to exorbitant prices, partly because for-profit resale is illegal and secondary sites did not advertise the Oasis concerts at Dublin's Croke Park, per an earlier report by The Guardian.

The CMA is now in consultation with the ticketing giant. The UK regulator told The Guardian that Ticketmaster made some changes to their policy in the wake of the Oasis Live '25 fiasco, but they were not enough to fully address the concerns fans raised.

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