Call for probe as Gallagher gig standing tickets sell for €415 each
● Ticketmaster facing backlash as in-demand prices to see band soar
Ticket pricing for the Oasis reunion tour dates in Croke Park has prompted calls for an investigation into Ticketmaster due to “in-demand” prices, which saw some standing tickets go on sale for €415 each.
Fans were scrambling to secure their place at the band’s first tour since their abrupt split in 2009, which includes two now sold-out nights in Dublin.
The number of fans in the queue to access tickets to their Irish dates at one point surpassed 800,000 — crowds which would require the Gallagher brothers to play at least 10 dates in Croke Park to satisfy the demand.
Fans reported a plethora of tech issues with the sale — receiving error messages, being kicked out of queues and at one point queuing to get into the queue for tickets.
Ticketmaster has been criticised for the pricing structure which saw in-demand standing tickets cost more than double the price of a €176.75 standard standing ticket.
The company said these in-demand standing tickets, which were on sale for €415 each, were “market-based” prices, while many criticised the pricing as “gouging”. Prices can be either fixed or market-based with the latter labelled as “platinum” or “in demand”. Other official “platinum” tickets were priced between €365 and €490 each.
Other tickets were also available, including standard seated and standing tickets, some of which cost over €170. There were also a number of fan packages priced between €250 and €450 before fees.
Dublin Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty has called for an investigation into Ticketmaster by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
“When ticket prices were advertised earlier this week, standing tickets in Croke Park were €86.50 plus booking fees, but when many people eventually got through the online queue this morning, they were faced with the exact same ticket at a price of €415.50,” she said.
“That’s not transparent advertising and certainly not fair to consumers.
“The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has sections included specifically to ensure large platforms that control aspects of the digital economy don’t just make up their own rules that are unfair for consumers. I think Ticketmaster’s in-demand pricing structure certainly needs investigating in this context.
“Every ticket for these gigs was always going to be in-demand so slapping an extra label and €300 on some standing tickets is just extortionate.”
Ms Doherty said there is “more than enough evidence” to investigate the pricing and advertising of larger gigs and added that she will be writing to the European Commission to ask them to examine their role at an EU level.
In response to queries about how prices for in-demand tickets are set, Ticketmaster shared a link to their website explaining that platinum or in-demand tickets are “market-based”.
“Promoters and artists set ticket prices. Prices can either be fixed or market-based,” it said. “Market-based tickets are labelled as platinum or in-demand.”
Despite the price, fans do not receive anything else with their ticket and it is not part of a package.
“There is so much demand that advantage has been taken of people’s support,” said Consumers’ Association of Ireland chair Michael Kilcoyne.
He said controls on ticket or hotel pricing are “a matter for Government”.