Today the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is providing a
progress update on its investigation into Ticketmaster following
widespread complaints about the sale of Oasis' concert tickets.
Following a formal investigation, the CMA is now consulting with
the ticketing platform on changes to ensure fans receive the
right information, at the right time.
The concerns
The CMA is concerned that Ticketmaster, which sold more than
900,000 tickets during the Oasis ticket sale, may have breached
consumer protection law by:
- Labelling certain seated tickets as ‘platinum' and selling
them for near 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. This risked giving consumers the misleading
impression that platinum tickets were better.
- Not informing 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, resulting 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.
Next steps
Since the opening of the investigation, Ticketmaster has made
changes to some aspects of its ticket sales process, but the CMA
does not currently consider these changes are sufficient to
address its concerns.
The CMA has provided Ticketmaster with details of the further
steps required to address its concerns and is seeking changes to
Ticketmaster's processes – including to the information it
provides to customers, when it provides that information, and how
it labels some of its tickets. The CMA is now consulting on these
changes with Ticketmaster.
Hayley Fletcher, Interim Senior Director of Consumer Protection,
says:
Fans reported problems when buying Oasis tickets from
Ticketmaster and we decided those concerns warranted
investigation.
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 is not able to advise on individual complaints so anyone
seeking advice or support should contact the relevant consumer
advice organisation in their area.
For more information visit the Ticketmaster
investigation case page.
Notes to editors
-
Ticketmaster UK Ltd (Ticketmaster) is a company which sells
and supplies tickets to consumers for a range of third-party
events via its website and mobile application in the UK. In
particular, it sold tickets for the ‘Oasis Live ‘25'
tour.
-
As an enforcer under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002, the
CMA currently enforces consumer law through the courts. It
cannot currently levy administrative fines for breaches of
consumer law. From 6 April 2025, the CMA will have new
consumer powers, which will enable the CMA to decide when
consumer law has been broken without taking a case to court.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
(DMCCA) will, once it comes into effect, also enable the CMA
to fine those firms that do break consumer law up to 10% of
their turnover.
-
The main consumer protection legislation relevant to the
CMA's concerns about misleading claims and other harmful
online selling practices is the Consumer Protection from
Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs). The CPRs aim to
protect consumers from unfair commercial practices such as
the misleading provision or omission of information as part
of sales processes. The CMA recently consulted on draft
guidance in relation to unfair commercial practices
(UCPs). Provisions prohibiting UCPs are due to replace and
update the CPRs once the relevant provisions of the DMCCA
come into force on 6 April 2025. The CMA currently has the
ability to ask a court to enforce the CPRs. Under the DMCCA,
the CMA will gain the ability to enforce the UCP provisions
itself, without needing to apply to a
court.
-
‘Primary' tickets are tickets which are being sold for the
first time, at the original price for tickets as determined
by artists, event organisers or box offices. ‘Secondary'
tickets are those which are resold after their original sale,
often (but not always) at prices other than the original
‘face value'.
