Oasis announce plans to release MORE tickets ahead of stadium tour

Oasis are releasing more tickets ahead of their eagerly anticipated reunion tour this summer. 

The iconic Britpop band have reunited for a series of stadium shows across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and North, Central and South America, commencing at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on July 4. 

The Live ’25 tour will be their first since the band’s acrimonious implosion and subsequent disbandment during the ill-fated Dig Out Your Soul tour in 2009. 

A statement posted to the band’s official website on Wednesday reads: ‘As the shows are getting closer, Oasis promoters may be able to release a very limited number of additional tickets for sale once final sight lines are checked and the production is fine tuned.

‘These final production releases will happen over the coming days.’ 

Following their initial release, thousands of fans waited for hours in virtual queues to get their hands on highly coveted tickets for the band’s reunion shows, only to find that prices had jumped in a ‘dynamic pricing’ scheme.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has since called for Ticketmaster to change how it labels tickets and informs customers.

The CMA launched an investigation into Ticketmaster in September to examine if it had engaged in ‘unfair commercial practices’, whether fans were given ‘clear and timely’ information to explain tickets could be subject to ‘dynamic pricing’, and if people were put under pressure to buy tickets within a short period of time.

The watchdog said it was concerned that Ticketmaster, which sold more than 900,000 tickets for the Oasis gigs, may have breached consumer protection law.

Downing Street has said that ‘everyone deserves a fair shot at getting tickets’ for music and sport events.

Ticketmaster UK said in a statement that it tries to provide a ‘simple, transparent and consumer-friendly’ experience.

Certain tickets for shows were labelled as ‘platinum’ and sold for nearly 2.5 times more than the standard price. However, the company did not explain these tickets do not come with any additional benefits and are located in the same area of the stadium.  

The CMA said this risked consumers being mislead into thinking the platinum tickets were better.

Another concern listed by the watchdog was that two categories of standing tickets were listed at different prices, with the cheaper tickets sold first before the more expensive ones were released.

This caused fans to wait in long queues without realising they would have to pay a higher price than expected, the CMA added.

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.

Hayley Fletcher, Interim Senior Director of Consumer Protection at the CMA, said: ‘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.

‘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.’

Oasis last year blamed its management for the dynamic pricing fiasco.

The band said it was ‘not aware’ the system would be used and that the decision was instead made during meetings between Ticketmaster, promoters and management.

This is despite the fact that Debbie Gwyther, 40, the girlfriend of frontman Liam, manages him.

A statement by the band said: ‘As for the well reported complaints many buyers had over the operation of dynamic ticketing: 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.

‘While prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster and the band’s management resulted in a positive ticket sale strategy, which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting, the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations.

‘All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.’

In a statement, a spokesman for Ticketmaster UK said: ‘At Ticketmaster, we strive to provide the best ticketing platform through a simple, transparent and consumer-friendly experience. We welcome the CMA’s input in helping make the industry even better for fans.’