Ticketmaster may have broken law with ‘platinum’ Oasis seats

Ticketmaster may have broken U.K. law by selling some Oasis concert tickets for 2.5 times what it charged for other seats without informing the public of its pricing plans, regulators in London said.

Article content

Article content

Article content

The Competition and Markets Authority began investigating the ticket seller, which is part of concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc., after consumers lodged complaints about the process to see British band Oasis.

Certain tickets were labelled as “platinum” and cost more than double the price of other tickets, but included no additional perks or better locations, the CMA said in a statement Tuesday. Many fans waited in a lengthy queue without knowing what they’d be paying and then had to decide whether to pay more than expected.

“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,” Hayley Fletcher, interim senior director of consumer protection, said in a statement. “We now expect Ticketmaster to work with us to address these concerns so, in future, fans can make well-informed decisions when buying tickets.”

Article content

In an emailed statement, the U.K. office of Ticketmaster said, “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.”

Since the U.K. investigation began last September, Ticketmaster has made changes to some aspects of its ticket-sales process, but the agency doesn’t consider them sufficient to address its concerns. The company sold more than 900,000 tickets during the Oasis sale, the CMA said.

Ticketmaster and its parent company have faced scrutiny in recent years after numerous high-profile tours either charged significantly higher prices to different customers or struggled to keep up with demand. The Justice Department and nearly 30 states sued Live Nation last year, alleging the company illegally monopolized the live events industry, and last week, a federal judge in New York denied the company’s request to narrow that case.

On Monday, Live Nation settled a lawsuit with investors for US$20 million. The investors alleged that the ticketing and promotion company misrepresented its compliance with antitrust laws.

Article content