Legendary British rock band Oasis has issued a warning to ticket resellers such as Viagogo and Stub Hub. They say fans who show up with second-hand tickets will not be allowed into their much-anticipated reunion gig as a storm over sales rumbles on. But a Viagogo exec has dismissed what he views as an empty threat, insisting the fiery Gallagher brothers are more likely to split up (again) than clamp down on touts and deny fans access to their concerts.
Fans have already blasted the chaotic general sale, having logged on in their millions last Saturday morning, hoping to secure tickets for a raft of gigs across London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin.
Following a pre-sale via ballot the day before, the general sale was courtesy of See Tickets, Gigsandtours, and Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster—whose parent company Live Nation is currently being sued by the U.S. Justice Department alleging monopolistic controls—came under the most fire.
Fans slammed an unstable website and accused the business of dynamic pricing, with costs going up as demand mounted.
While the band has attempted to distance themselves from the drama, customers of resale sites like Viagogo were told their tickets would be canceled via Oasis’ official account on X.
Oasis told PA Media: “It needs to be made clear that Oasis leaves decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management.”
But on X, the band wrote: “Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be canceled by the promoters.”
This was supported by a statement on the Oasis website announcing added dates at Wembley Stadium, which read: “Any tickets listed on unauthorised resale sites may not be genuine and promoters will cancel any tickets found listed.”
Can Oasis cancel tickets bought on resale sites?
The droves who didn’t snag a ticket in the initial sale quickly turned to resale websites like Viagogo, where tickets are being listed anywhere from £600 ($789) to £6,000 ($7,896) at the time of writing.
When asked by Fortune about the likelihood of promoters sticking by their plan to void second-hand tickets, Viagogo’s international business development lead Matt Drew said: “I think there’s more chance that Oasis split up.
Representatives for Oasis did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Drew believes the “scare tactics” around ticket resales are toothless and has personal experience with similar demands not being upheld in the past.
“I went to see Liam [Gallagher],” Drew said—referencing the tour the Oasis frontman embarked on over the summer. “I bought four tickets at primary sale, I bought two tickets at secondary from our platform because there were six of us going.
“The very same messaging was being put out there. We all got in.”
“Resale in the UK is completely legal”
Customers who have already parted money for tickets bought via resellers may be skeptical of an ‘it worked for me’ argument, but Drew doubled down: “Resale in the UK is completely legal. That’s just a statement of fact.
“Beyond that, it’s a very heavily regulated industry, and governments aren’t in the business of regulating industries that aren’t legal.”
Viagogo says it has a further safety net.
Drew added: “In the very, very, very rare instances that people do not get in for whatever reason—not specific to messages like this—we have a full guarantee that person will either get a replacement ticket or they’ll get all of their money back.”
How to get cheap Oasis tickets
While demand for tickets is currently at astronomic levels, Drew and the team at Viagogo are advising consumers to sit tight instead of rushing out to buy Oasis tickets on reseller platforms like their own.
Similar to the hype that saw some customers paying thousands for a spot at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour or Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour, Drew claims Viagogo customers had snagged tickets for as little as £80 and £24, respectively.
“There’s a number of dates here [for Oasis], tickets are available at any time, most likely up until the day of the gig,” Drew said. “There are very rational and reasonable prices to be had.
“What we have seen consistently for major events is that there is this huge peak of demand at the start and there is almost always this general trend downwards over a period of time.”
Resellers like Viagogo haven’t been without criticism, with fans on X blasting resellers as “greedy” and “leaches.”
Drew points out that Viagogo is merely the marketplace for ticket resales and has no part in setting prices, which are set by the sellers.
He added prices that are “completely outlandish” will never sell and that the marketplace will eventually settle at a “rational point.”
His advice was to wait until tickets reach a budget point that is comfortable for buyers—particularly around six weeks before the gig.
Dynamic pricing disaster
The British rockers have tried to distance themselves from Ticketmaster’s alleged use of dynamic pricing.
A spokesman told PA Media the band “at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.”
The allegation of dynamic pricing has already landed Ticketmaster in hot water. The Guardian reports that the European Commission has launched an urgent review into the matter.
This comes after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was reviewing the process and wanted fans to get “a fair deal.”
Viagogo’s Drew says the alleged dynamic pricing, coupled with a crackdown on resellers in independent marketplaces, forms Ticketmaster’s plan to control the market.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Drew paints Viagogo as a solution to this problem by opening up the market.
It’s up to consumers whether or not to believe it, but fans and Drew can agree on one thing: “The system doesn’t work. It needs to be looked at from top to bottom, and it needs to be made a tonne more competitive.”
In our new special issue, a Wall Street legend gets a radical makeover, a tale of crypto iniquity, misbehaving poultry royalty, and more.
Read the stories.
