Plan to ban dynamic ticket pricing after Oasis sale

Getty Images

Fianna Fáil is seeking to introduce legislation in the Republic of Ireland that would ban a process known as “dynamic pricing” following price increases for Oasis gigs in Dublin.

There has been widespread criticism of dynamic pricing over the past week.

Dynamic pricing meant that on Ticketmaster, where tickets to the reunion tour were originally sold, prices rose in line with demand.

The cost of some standing tickets at Croke Park in Dublin rose from €176 (£148) on pre-sale to more than €400 (£337).

Ticketmaster has defended the way it sells tickets.

Last week, Oasis announced two concerts at Croke Park on 16 and 17 August, along with a further 15 other nights at venues in the UK.

Two more gigs have since been announced for Wembley in London.

Getty / Darragh Moriarty

In the Republic of Ireland, the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act came into effect in 2021 and banned the reselling of tickets above face value.

On Thursday, Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley, Niamh Smyth TD (MP) and Jim O’Callaghan TD will introduce an amendment to that bill.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “The 2021 Act protected fans from the experience of missing out on tickets and seeing those same tickets for sale on a secondary site for far more than they can afford or would be happy to pay.

“It now must be extended so we can protect fans from the experience of seeing ‘in demand’ tickets jumping significantly above the asking price that was initially advertised.”

The UK government has already said there will be a review looking at the transparency and use of dynamic pricing, including the technology around queuing systems which incentivise it.

Schellion Horn, competition economist at accounting firm Grant Thornton, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that dynamic pricing was about setting the price around supply and demand.

That means as demand for tickets goes up, then the price rises to match that.

Getty Images

Senator Timmy Dooley said: “This is about protecting consumers from being ripped off by technological practices.

"People attending any event, not just concerts, should be confident that when they are waiting in an online queue to purchase a ticket they will pay the price that was initially advertised.

“Over the weekend, this was not the case for fans of Oasis. After waiting in an online queue fans were met by ‘in demand’ tickets that were for sale at over €400 each.”

Mr Dooley said the practice of dynamic pricing “must be nipped in the bud before it becomes common practice”.

He added that fans “deserve fairness and transparency”.

Darragh Moriarty

Ticketmaster has said it does not set prices and that it is down to the "event organiser" who "has priced these tickets according to their market value".

Tánaiste (deputy Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has said there is a role for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to investigate the pricing of the Oasis gig tickets.

In a statement, the CCPC said that under consumer law in Ireland, people should be clearly informed of the full price of a product, including fees, before they buy.