TICKETMASTER has been accused of acting like touts after tickets for next year's Oasis reunion shows sold out within hours of going on sale on Saturday.
The band, which includes second-generation Irish brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, announced this week that they were going back on tour after a 15-year split.
Grace Boland, who will represent Fine Gael in Dublin Fingal West in the General Election, said Ticketmaster was 'working to achieve what ticket touts were doing' after complaints of inflated prices.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil senator Timmy Dooley said he had written to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission over the 'ticket sales stunt'.
Issues
Tickets for next year's two Croke Park gigs went on sale at 8am on Saturday, with fans reporting long queues, buffering issues and having their session suspended after being suspected of being a bot.
Some of those lucky enough to get to the stage of purchasing tickets were faced with increased costs as result of dynamic pricing.
Standing tickets were advertised in advance at €86.50 but some fans were left with the option of only 'In Demand' standing tickets costing well over four times that.
Journalist Gavan Reilly, who waited almost two hours to buy tickets, said there was no difference in a regular standing ticket and an 'In Demand' one.
After 105 minutes in the queue: only tickets left for Oasis on Sunday are "official platinum tickets" (€490.50) and "in demand standing tickets" (€415.50). Neither has any VIP element: it's literally just Ticketmaster incorporating tout pricing into the 'face value' proposition
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) August 31, 2024
"After 105 minutes in the queue: only tickets left for Oasis on Sunday are 'official platinum tickets' (€490.50) and 'in demand standing tickets' (€415.50)," he posted on Twitter/X.
"Neither has any VIP element: it's literally just Ticketmaster incorporating tout pricing into the 'face value' proposition."
On its website, Ticketmaster says that it is down to promoters and artists to decide whether ticket prices will be fixed or variable.
"Promoters and artists set ticket prices," reads the website.
"Prices can be either fixed or market-based. Market-based tickets are labelled as 'Platinum' or 'In Demand'."
It adds that 'Platinum' and 'In Demand' tickets are not part of a package and do not offer anything additional.
Touting 'in plain sight'
In a statement on Saturday, Fine Gael's Ms Boland slammed Ticketmaster's 'farcical' service and 'unacceptable' pricing system.
"Like many 90's kids, I was gutted to find myself stuck in a queue all morning trying to access tickets that were simply never going to be realized," read her statement on the Fine Gael website.
"Moving from 500,000th to 450,000th in the farcical online queue was of little comfort.
"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.
"This is clearly Ticketmaster 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."
'Fleeced at every turn'
Ms Boland accused Ticketmaster of trying to get around Ireland's 2021 Sale of Tickets Act, which banned the reselling of tickets for more than their face value in a bid to curb ticket touting and protect consumers.
"We're seeing Ticketmaster circumvent the spirit of that law by inflating the initial sale prices to levels that were previously only seen on the resale market," she said.
"This abuse of consumers is downright lousy, but more pertinent is that it exposes the monopoly like status of ticket sales in Ireland.
"Irish music fans deserve better than to be fleeced at every turn.
"Further to this, the use of surge pricing I believe merits serious investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission."
Taking to social media, Fianna Fáil senator Mr Dooley said he had contacted the body over the issues.
"I have written to the Competition & Consumer Protection Commission, requesting an investigation of the ticket sales stunt used for the Oasis concerts," he posted on Twitter/X.
"It now seems that bands and their agents have taken over where the touts left off — @GAA should set rules for use of Croke Park."
Resale warning
While not as extreme as the Irish price increases, fans seeking tickets for the band's shows in Britain were also faced with dynamic pricing.
For example, Wembley standing tickets were advertised at just over £150, however, fans later showed being offered 'In Demand Standing Tickets' at more than £350 for the show at the stadium on Saturday, July 26, 2025.
While Oasis themselves have not addressed the dynamic pricing issue, the band's official Twitter/X account warned against tickets for their British shows being offered for more than their face value on resale sites.
"Please note, Oasis Live '25 tickets can only be resold at face value via @TicketmasterUK and [authorised ticket resale company] @Twickets!" read the post.
"Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters."
Despite the warning, a search of resale sites showed hundreds of tickets on offer for the band's shows in Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Cardiff, with prices ranging from several hundred to several thousand pounds.
The highest-priced listing on StubHub for the band's show at Wembley on Saturday, August 2, 2025 offered the option of purchasing seats together in the Club 209 section for £6,025 each.
Oasis announced on Tuesday that they were going back on tour next year, having split up in 2009.
Originally, 14 shows were announced for Britain and Ireland before three further dates were announced, with Saturday's overwhelming demand for tickets fuelling speculation that more shows will be added.
