Irish Regulator Accuses Ticketmaster of Misleading Oasis Ticket Buyers With “Platinum” Offers

Ireland’s consumer watchdog has accused Ticketmaster of misleading Oasis ticket buyers over both its “Platinum” ticket designation and the way prices were presented during the band’s blockbuster 2024 onsale, moving a nearly two-year investigation into court.

Ticketline Unlimited Company, which trades as Ticketmaster in Ireland, faces two alleged offenses under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 following an investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The charges concern tickets sold Aug. 31, 2024, for Oasis’ two reunion concerts at Croke Park in Dublin the following summer.

One charge alleges Ticketmaster offered Platinum tickets in a way likely to deceive or mislead consumers about the tickets’ main characteristics and specifications. The other alleges the company provided information about ticket prices in a way that was “unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely,” potentially causing consumers to make purchases they otherwise would not have made.

Ticketmaster is preparing to fight both allegations.

“I anticipate that this matter will be fully contested,” Remy Farrell SC, representing Ticketmaster, told Judge Anthony Halpin in Dublin District Court on Monday.

The case has been adjourned until Oct. 5 to allow for disclosure between the parties. Farrell told the court the defense expects roughly a dozen consumer witnesses and experts to give evidence, with a full hearing potentially lasting three or four days. The judge said efforts would be made to identify hearing dates before Christmas.

Two Years From Complaints to Prosecution

The case stems from the chaotic Aug. 31, 2024, onsale for Oasis’ highly anticipated reunion tour, including sold-out Croke Park concerts eventually held Aug. 16 and 17, 2025.

Fans complained after spending hours in online queues only to encounter ticket prices substantially higher than they had expected. Irish consumers reported standing ticket prices rising from around €176 during the presale to more than €400, while other inventory was offered under Ticketmaster’s Platinum designation.

The CCPC opened its investigation less than a week later after reviewing more than 100 consumer contacts about the sale.

“There are legitimate concerns over how consumers were treated,” CCPC Chair Brian McHugh said at the time, adding: “If we find that consumer protection laws were broken we will take action.”

TicketNews reported last August that the Irish investigation remained “active and ongoing,” nearly a year after it began. The regulator has now confirmed that investigation is complete and resulted in the prosecution involving the two alleged offenses.

Ticketmaster said during the original controversy that ticket prices, including Platinum and “In Demand” inventory, were set by the tour rather than Ticketmaster, and that event organizers could choose either fixed or market-based prices.

The Irish charges, however, focus not simply on who determined the price but on what consumers were told about the tickets being offered and when they were told what those tickets would cost.

That distinction could become central as the case proceeds.

UK Investigation Raised Nearly Identical Concerns

The Irish prosecution also follows a parallel investigation in the United Kingdom that focused on remarkably similar issues but ended without a court deciding whether Ticketmaster had broken the law.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation found Ticketmaster sold some Oasis “Platinum” tickets for nearly 2.5 times the price of standard tickets without adequately explaining that they offered no additional benefits over some standard tickets located in the same areas.

The CMA also found fans waiting in long online queues were not adequately informed that standing inventory was being sold at two different predetermined price levels, with the cheaper tickets selling out before the more expensive tier became available.

That investigation also added an important qualification to the way the Oasis controversy had frequently been described.

Although many buyers believed Ticketmaster was using “dynamic pricing” to adjust prices in real time as demand increased, the CMA said it found no evidence that an algorithmic real-time pricing system was used in the UK sale. Instead, investigators found standing tickets had been divided into price tiers in advance, with the more expensive inventory released after the cheaper tier sold out.

The UK matter was ultimately resolved in September 2025 when Ticketmaster agreed to a series of commitments requiring clearer ticket descriptions and more information about pricing before and during onsales.

Under those undertakings, Ticketmaster must tell UK consumers at least 24 hours in advance when tiered pricing will be used, display price ranges to buyers entering online queues, update customers when less expensive inventory sells out and avoid ticket labels that could imply one product is better than another when that is not the case. Ticketmaster also agreed to report regularly to the CMA for two years.

The commitments were voluntary and included no admission of wrongdoing or liability. Ticketmaster separately stopped using the Platinum label in the UK.

Ireland is now taking a different route.

Rather than closing the investigation with prospective changes to Ticketmaster’s practices, the CCPC has brought alleged violations from the Oasis sale before a judge. Ticketmaster has denied no allegations formally at this stage beyond signaling that it intends to contest the case in full, and none of the regulator’s claims have been proven.

The CCPC told The Irish Times that it will not provide additional comment while the prosecution is before the court. Ticketmaster had not provided the outlet with an additional statement as of Monday’s report.

The next scheduled step comes Oct. 5, when the case returns to Dublin District Court following the exchange of prosecution evidence with the defense. If the expected hearing proceeds before the end of the year, the Irish case could produce something the UK regulatory process did not: a court ruling on whether Ticketmaster’s presentation of Platinum inventory and ticket prices during the Oasis onsale amounted to illegal misleading commercial practices.