Following a formal investigation, which was announced in September, the CMA will now work with the ticketing platform on changes that will ensure fans “receive the right information, at the right time”.
The watchdog felt that Ticketmaster potentially breached consumer protection law by labelling certain seated tickets as ‘platinum’ and selling them by nearly 2.5 times the price of equivalent standard tickets, without sufficiently explaining what additional benefits were. These tickets were also often located in the same area of the stadium.
“This risked giving consumers the misleading impression that platinum tickets were better,” the CMA said.
Additionally, the CMA said that Ticketmaster had not informed consumers of two categories of standing tickets at different prices, with the cheaper standing tickets sold first before the more expensive standing tickets were released, resulting in fans waiting in long queues without understanding what they would be paying.
This led to many fans being under the impression that Ticketmaster had used a dynamic pricing model during the Oasis sale, but the CMA found no evidence of this. Instead this model of releasing lower-priced tickets first, followed by more expensive options was used.
“Fans reported problems when buying Oasis tickets from Ticketmaster and we decided those concerns warranted investigation,” said Hayley Fletcher, interim senior director of consumer protection.
“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. We now expect Ticketmaster to work with us to address these concerns so, in future, fans can make well-informed decisions when buying tickets.
“All ticketing websites should check they are complying with the law and treating their customers fairly. When businesses get it right, consumers benefit – and that’s the best outcome for everyone.”
The CMA noted that since the investigation opened, Ticketmaster has made changes to some aspects of its ticket sales process. However, the body did not consider these changes as sufficient to address its concerns, and has provided details of further steps.
Some 900,000 tickets were sold for the UK dates of Oasis’ reunion tour, with dates scheduled for Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Manchester’s Heaton Park, Wembley Stadium in London, and Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium.