Oasis Prepare to Cancel Thousands of Reunion Tickets Sold on Secondary Markets

Oasis are sticking to their promise to crack down on resale tickets for their reunion shows, with the band preparing to invalidate about 50,000 tickets sold on the secondary market, according to the BBC.

The reunion tour’s promoters, Live Nation and SJM, said they would start canceling the offending tickets and make those seats available again through Ticketmaster at face value (info on new sale dates will be announced soon). When tickets for the reunion shows in the U.K. and Ireland went on sale in August, fans were told that they could only purchase them through Ticketmaster or the one official resale partner, Twickets. 

These rules appeared to stymie the flow to secondary markets, with a spokesperson for the promoters saying that just “four percent of tickets” ended up on resale platforms (compared the 20 percent other major tours often see). But considering 1.4 million tickets went on sale for the reunion shows, that four percent amounts to about 50,000 tickets. (Fans who think their tickets were improperly canceled will have the ability to have their case investigated.)

“These terms and conditions were successfully put in place to take action against secondary ticketing companies reselling tickets for huge profit,” the spokesperson said, adding: “All parties involved with the tour continue to urge fans not to purchase tickets from unauthorized websites as some of these may be fraudulent and others subject to cancellation.”

The promoters also said that as they continue to monitor secondary sites for unauthorized ticket sales, they’ll pass along information to “relevant law enforcement… where appropriate.” 

Despite the rules and warnings about resale tickets, hundreds of Oasis reunion tickets popped up on resale platforms like Viagogo, with some priced at nearly $4,000. Following the news of the pending cancellations, a Viagogo spokesperson told the BBC that the platform would “continue to sell [Oasis tickets] in the way the regulator says we can.” (Viagogo previously noted that fans are “protected” by a guarantee that they will either “receive their tickets in time for the event or their money back.”)