Following the controversial dynamic pricing used as part of the Oasis ’25 Live tour sale, websites like Ticketmaster will also be under further scrutiny to ensure fans are not getting ripped off or paying over the odds for tickets.
There could be heftier fines for resale platforms that do not police the activity of their users. As it stands, the fines are capped at £5,000 for ticketing rule breaches.
But the consultation launched by the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will look into whether this fine amount should rise.
Last summer, the Gallagher brothers announced they would join forces once more in 2025 with dates for a UK and Ireland tour, which later extended to the US, Australia and South America.
However, as tickets went on sale on 31 August and millions of fans tried to secure their spot, due to high demand, Ticketmaster changed the £148.50 face-value listing to £355.20.
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Fans were also faced with a time limit of five minutes to purchase at the new rate, which was criticised for putting fans under unfair pressure to buy them.
This led to the Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill launching, and the proposed new law was discussed for a second reading in Parliament in December.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched the probe into dynamic pricing and found the average markup of tickets on websites like Viagogo was usually 50%, but in some extreme cases, it was more than six times the original cost.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “From sports tournaments to Taylor Swift – all too often, big events have been dogged by consumers being taken advantage of by ticket touts.
“These unfair practices look to fleece people of their hard-earned income, which isn’t fair on fans, venues and artists.
“Fans enjoying themselves in the moment are what make concerts and live events the thrilling experiences that they are, which is why, as part of our Plan for Change, we are putting them back in control.”
Fans’ uphill battle
Rocio Concha, Which?’s director of policy and advocacy, said: “For far too long, fans have faced an uphill battle to find face value tickets to see their favourite artist perform or sports team play live, so it’s absolutely right the Government wants to make ticketing fairer for consumers.
“In recent years, touts have been allowed to charge fans hundreds of pounds extra for secondary tickets, it has been very difficult for resale platforms to be held to account for poor practices and consumers have had to watch out for scam tickets circulating online.”
Concha added: “The Government must use this consultation to regulate the industry properly, ensure ticket resales don’t exploit fans and decide when the use of dynamic pricing is unfair and shouldn’t be allowed.”
The mooted new rules also got the backing of the DJ Fatboy Slim, who said he is “fully behind this effort to make sure more people can enjoy incredible arts and music events across the country without being ripped off.”
“It is part of the change this Government were elected to make”, the producer added.
