Ticketmaster faces fresh backlash over Oasis ticket sales

Oasis, the British rock band that had a massive following in the 1990s and early 2000s, is back together. The band, led by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, haven’t performed together since 2009. Yet, fans were ecstatic last week as the singers announced a new world tour would kick off next summer.

So far, the only dates announced are for the U.K. and Ireland, but being described as a “world tour” suggests that global dates could be added to the schedule. It’ll be the first time in 15 years that fans will get to hear hits like “Wonderwall,” “Champagne Supernova,” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” live. But they’ll have to pay far more for the concert than the last time Oasis graced the stage.

While trying to get tickets via the presale lottery on Friday, many fans reported the sites being riddled with error messages, bots, and extensive wait times. Some were locked out of their accounts. On Saturday, as fans who missed out on presale tickets scrambled onto Ticketmaster, it was another frustrating day. Tickets went on sale at 9 a.m., but instead of being allowed to buy tickets, many ended up waiting in online queues for hours before getting kicked off the site.

While originally, tickets went on sale for a reasonable 74 pounds (just under $100), it wasn’t long before they could be found on resale sites like StubHub and Viagogo for far more than the original price—in many cases, around 40 times more, at 6,000 pounds ($7,800).

“Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be canceled by the promoters,” Oasis warned in a statement as the relisting kicked off, but that didn’t curb sellers from trying to make a quick profit.

To make matters more confusing, despite the band’s warning about resale rates, Viagogo issued a contradictory statement that explained that “resale is legal in the U.K.” and added that the site was “fully compliant with all U.K. laws and regulations.”

In a statement, Viagogo global managing director Cris Miller told PA news agency, a multimedia content provider in the U.K.: “This is a dream event anticipated by millions worldwide. Our number-one tip for fans using secondary marketplaces is to continue to check prices outside of the first few weeks of sale.”

Miller added, “Demand will be at its peak when tickets hit the on-sale, but it’s not a normal reflection of what tickets can and will go for. Just this summer, tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in the U.K. were sold on our platform for as low as [80 pounds, about $105].”

Taylor Swift was certainly top of mind for many fans who had experienced similar frustrations when attempting to snag Eras Tour tickets only to find an error-ridden Ticketmaster site filled with bots, followed by jacked-up prices on resale sites. But that’s far from the only criticism Ticketmaster has seen in recent years. The site created its “in-demand” dynamic pricing system in 2022, allowing it to escalate prices along with demand. The site is responsible for about 70% of ticket sales in the U.S. and has frustrated fans with added fees that drive up overall ticket prices.

The site’s practices even prompted The Taylor Swift Bill, which was signed into law in Minnesota earlier this year. Not only does it require sellers to disclose all fees up front, it also prohibits resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket.

The outrage at both Ticketmaster and Oasis is fresh this week, however. Some fans publicly called out the band for working with the ticket-selling giant. “Sorry, but the whole ticket sale was an utter fiasco,” one fan wrote on X. Please think about your involvement with #Ticketmaster in future. They’re ripping people off left, right and centre. New dates, please, and ideally with a different & better ticket provider. Cheers.”

The long-awaited 2025 tour will kick off on July 4 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. And so far, the band will also perform at Heaton Park in Manchester, London’s Wembley Stadium, Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, and Croke Park in Dublin.