The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has asked Ticketmaster to make significant changes to how it labels tickets and provides pricing information to consumers.
The watchdog’s demands come after a formal investigation into Ticketmaster’s handling of Oasis ticket sales last year, which sparked widespread consumer complaints.
According to a CMA statement issued today (March 25), the regulator is now “consulting with the ticketing platform on changes to ensure fans receive the right information, at the right time.”
The CMA’s investigation centered on two key concerns about Ticketmaster, which sold more than 900,000 tickets during the Oasis sale:
- The watchdog claims Ticketmaster labeled certain seated tickets as “platinum” and sold them for nearly 2.5 times the price of equivalent standard tickets, “without sufficiently explaining that they did not offer additional benefits and were often located in the same area of the stadium.”
- The CMA also alleges 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.”
This practice, the CMA states, 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.”
Despite fan speculation, the CMA investigation found no evidence that Ticketmaster used an algorithmic “dynamic pricing” model during the Oasis sale, with ticket prices adjusted in real-time according to demand.
Instead, the regulator found that Ticketmaster released a number of standing tickets at a lower price and, once they sold out, released the remaining standing tickets at a much higher price.
“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,” said Hayley Fletcher, Interim Senior Director of Consumer Protection at the CMA.
“We now expect Ticketmaster to work with us to address these concerns so, in future, fans can make well-informed decisions when buying tickets.”
The CMA launched its investigation in September 2024 after over 10 million fans reportedly queued for tickets to Oasis’ reunion tour, which saw all ticket platforms struggling to cope, according to the band.
The investigation came after Oasis publicly distanced themselves from Ticketmaster’s pricing practices, stating in a press release: “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.”
The CMA notes that while Ticketmaster has made some changes to its ticket sales process since the investigation began, these changes are not considered sufficient to address the regulator’s concerns.
The watchdog is now seeking further changes to Ticketmaster’s processes, including improvements to the information provided to customers, when that information is provided, and how it labels certain tickets.
From April 6, 2025, the CMA will gain new consumer powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which will enable it to determine when consumer law has been broken without taking a case to court. These powers will also allow the CMA to fine companies up to 10% of their turnover for breaking consumer law.
This Ticketmaster investigation is separate from the ongoing legal battle between Live Nation (Ticketmaster’s parent company) and the US Department of Justice, which filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in May 2024.
The DOJ lawsuit seeks to split Live Nation from Ticketmaster and specifically references the company’s dynamic pricing tools in its complaint.
Live Nation has previously argued that dynamic pricing programs address the issue of scalpers buying tickets at face value and then selling them at higher prices.Music Business Worldwide