By John Towfighi, CNN
A photograph taken on 2 September 2024 shows a mural created by artist Scott Wilcock aka Snow Graffiti, depicting Liam Gallagher (L) and Noel Gallagher (R) members of the British rock band Oasis, and painted outside the pub Whitefield, near Heaton Park, in Manchester, northern England.
Photo: AFP / PAUL ELLIS
Oasis is cancelling around 50,000 tickets for its British tour dates that were resold on secondary websites like StubHub and Viagogo.
The band’s tour promoters are cancelling tickets resold through unofficial secondary sites to stop price gouging, a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM, the Oasis tour promoters, told CNN.
Oasis fans are the latest to deal with the issue of ticket scalpers, who purchase tickets at face value and resell them for profit. The practice has ensnared – and enraged – fans of everyone from Taylor Swift to Coldplay, becoming the rare issue in Washington that lawmakers from both parties can agree on.
Oasis, which dominated airwaves in the 90s, has not performed since 2009, when an argument between bickering brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher led to its split. The band’s reunion tour was announced in August, and its popularity has brought renewed attention to frustrations around ticket accessibility and fans being priced out of major concerts.
When tickets for Oasis’ UK and Ireland reunion tour went live in August, some fans took to social media to lament surging prices, long wait times and even missing out entirely on buying tickets. There were 1.4 million tickets available, with 10 million fans from 158 countries vying to buy them, according to Live Nation.
With enormous demand and limited supply, tickets were promptly re-listed on secondary sites at inflated prices. CNN saw ticket prices as high as US$7294 (NZD$12,228) for the Oasis tour on Viagogo, a secondary market for ticket sales.
Reselling tickets on secondary sites broke the terms and conditions put in place for the Oasis tour, a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM told CNN. Cancelled tickets will be made available for face value on Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation and considered the designated site for Oasis tickets.
When tickets for the UK and Ireland leg of the tour were released in August, fans were informed they could purchase and resell tickets on Ticketmaster or Twickets, the official resale partner. However, about 4 percent of tickets were bought and resold on unofficial secondary sites like Viagogo, totalling about 50,000 tickets, a spokesperson for Live Nation and SJM said.
Restrictions on reselling tickets on unofficial secondary sites were put in place to prevent resellers taking advantage of fans, the spokesperson said.
Full refunds will be given for cancelled tickets and if fans think their tickets were cancelled in error, they can speak to their relevant ticket agent to investigate their case.
“All parties involved with the tour continue to urge fans not to purchase tickets from unauthorised websites as some of these may be fraudulent and others subject to cancellation,” the spokesperson told CNN.
“If fans do want to sell Oasis tickets, they can do so at face value through Ticketmaster or the band’s official resale partner Twickets.”
The resale of concert tickets is legal in the UK as long as they were legally purchased to begin with, and there are protections in place for consumers. Some sites like Viagogo intend to continue allowing the resale of Oasis tickets.
“We want to reassure fans buying tickets on Viagogo that we are fully compliant with the law and guidelines set out by relevant regulators,” a spokesperson for Viagogo told CNN.
“Threats from promoters to cancel tickets unfairly target fans who chose to buy on a secure, transparent, and highly regulated resale marketplace. Such actions are clear examples of anti-consumer and retaliatory behaviour.”
The Oasis Live ’25 Tour begins on 4 July 2025, with a slate of shows in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.
The North American leg of the Oasis tour begins on 24 August 2025, at Rogers Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. Subsequent concerts are scheduled for Chicago, East Rutherford, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Mexico City.
– CNN
