Photo Credit: StubHub
Earlier this week, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) took aim at secondary ticketing platforms – and urged congressional action – following an alleged wave of “fake” Oasis tickets. Now, one of the accused platforms is firing back and stirring an ugly war-of-words with Ticketmaster.
We covered NIVA’s letter and adjacent Fans First Act push in detail yesterday. To summarize, the organization called out StubHub and Vivid Seats in particular over thousands of allegedly fake/speculative tickets to the North American leg of Oasis’ forthcoming tour.
These resale passes, the organization indicated, had presumably inflated price tags and were allegedly listed before there was “evidence of a single ticket going on sale to the public” for the high-demand concert series. Lawmakers, NIVA emphasized as well, should promptly address the “widespread deceptive practices perpetuated by predatory ticket brokers and resale platforms.”
Of course, there are two sides to every dispute, and unsurprisingly, the accused ticketing platforms have much to say about the allegations. Running with StubHub’s response for now, a representative told us that the Oasis tickets in question weren’t fake/speculative at all.
Rather, the company maintained, the passes derived from more targeted pre-sales that initiated before the main pre-sale. As we noted yesterday, Oasis’ North American pre-sale – at least as billed in a tweet from the band itself – is said to have kicked off on October 3rd.
In the interest of clarity, September 30th saw Oasis address the matter on X. “A ticket pre-sale will be held this Thursday, 3rd October,” the group wrote. “Entry is by private ballot only. Ballot registration is open now and closes 8am ET tomorrow, Tuesday 1st October.”
Meanwhile, Ticketmaster on September 30th formally announced the tour leg via a media release. “Registration for the presale is currently open at www.oasisinet.com until Tuesday, October 1st at 8am EST,” the Live Nation subsidiary wrote in part. “General ticket onsale will begin Friday, October 4th at 12pm local time and will be available from www.ticketmaster.com.”
Absent from both messages is any mention of different pre-sales. But according to StubHub, which added a relevant email screenshot for good measure, individuals including but not limited to Chicago Bears season ticketholders were invited to buy Oasis tickets on the 30th. (The NFL team’s home stadium is set to host an Oasis show in late August of 2025.)
“CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW TO ACCESS YOUR EXCLUSIVE PRESALE STARTING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, AT 12PM (CT),” that all-caps notification, sent by what appears to be the Bears’ official email account, reads in part.
Not stopping there, the platform provided an in-depth statement from global head of government relations Laura Dooley, who called on Ticketmaster to “do their part to better protect fans.” We included those comments in full at the time of publishing; shortly after that, Ticketmaster reached out with a response of its own, bluntly declaring that “StubHub is lying.”
In other words, the decidedly public verbal sparring suggests that the broader dispute probably won’t be ending anytime soon. On the policy side, especially given NIVA’s initially highlighted push for legislation – and the House’s quick passage of the TICKET Act, which NIVA also supports, earlier in 2024 – it’ll be interesting to see how (or whether) StubHub’s disclosure affects the Fans First Act’s path forward.
Here’s the full statement from StubHub global head of government relations Laura Dooley:
“It is clear that Live Nation Entertainment-Ticketmaster and National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) have partnered to spread false information about ticket availability in an attempt to further their own policy agenda and create distrust in the secondary market. There is a lack of transparency around how tickets are allocated, sold, and distributed in the primary ticket market, preventing consumers from understanding how the ticket industry works and allowing dominant players to manipulate the marketplace. Tickets may appear on resale marketplaces before public on-sale because many industry stakeholders, such as season ticket holders, sponsors, and professional resellers, receive early access – this was the case with Oasis.
At StubHub, our top priority is getting fans into events. We prohibit the sale of speculative tickets and call on Ticketmaster to open lines of communication, offer ticket verification services, and do their part to better protect fans.”
And the retort provided by a Ticketmaster spokesperson:
“StubHub is lying. Oasis tickets were offered for sale on StubHub immediately after the North American dates and venues were announced, before any onsale, and before anyone had rights to particular seats – as the listings explicitly claimed. The season ticket holder excuse is baseless. For the shows in Pasadena, Toronto, Mexico City and New Jersey, no one had season ticket holder rights to receive tickets. Even in Chicago, no one had advance rights to the particular seats listed for sale on StubHub.
Ticketmaster prohibits anyone from listing resale tickets before an official onsale. StubHub and other resellers choose to look the other way. This continuing pattern of deception requires Congress to pass and enforce a comprehensive ban on speculative ticketing.”
