Saturday, November 23, 2024

Oasis: new Wembley dates, how to get tickets and enter ballot

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Oasis have announced two more dates for gigs at Wembley Stadium because of “phenomenal demand”, providing fans who missed out on the first round of tickets with some hope of getting one this time. The band has promised to improve the selling process, after many people were left frustrated and angry at the long virtual queues and sky-rocketing dynamic pricing when tickets for the first set of gigs went on sale. Here we look at what might be different this time around.


What are Oasis doing?

The two more gigs at Wembley Stadium in London, on 27 and 28 September 2025, are a response to “unprecedented demand” in the initial sale that led to 10 million fans from 158 countries queueing online to try to snap up tickets.

The band took the opportunity in its latest announcement to distance themselves from the furore around seller Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing strategy, which meant some fans queued online all day only to find the cost of £135 standing tickets had risen to £355 by the time they managed to confirm their purchase.

The band blamed promoters, Ticketmaster and its own management team, saying it had “at no time had any awareness” of the selling strategy, which is now the subject of separate investigations by the UK competition watchdog and its European counterpart.


How can fans get tickets for the new dates?

The plan to take a “small step towards making amends for the situation” is to set up a “special, staggered, invitation-only ballot”.

In practice, the Guardian understands that the database of those who originally entered the first pre-order ballot last Friday is now being vetted to eliminate suspicious applicants such as bots.

Verified fans who did not get a ticket in Ticketmaster’s pre-order ballot on Friday last week will be the first to be invited to try again. The sale will then be open to all other fans.

Oasis has not said if and when customers who tried to buy on Saturday through Ticketmaster, See Tickets or Gigs and Tours will be entered into the special ballot.

The date for the launch of the new ballot for the two extra dates has not yet been revealed, although it is understood that the band are keen for it to go ahead as soon as possible.


How many tickets will there be and how much will they cost?

Wembley is the UK’s largest venue and it is expected that 180,000 tickets will go on sale, maximum capacity over the two nights.

Pricing has not been released but ahead of Friday’s pre-sale promoters said that standing tickets would cost about £150, while standard seated tickets range from £73 to about £205. The band has yet to clarify whether pricing for the new dates will be dynamic, though given the furore over the practice, this would be surprising.


Why has Oasis done this?

The ticket pricing scandal has tarnished the band’s image before its eagerly anticipated reunion tour, which is expected to be the biggest in British history, and Oasis have admitted the experience has “failed to meet expectations”.

The band said that while it was “impossible” to schedule enough shows to fulfil public demand it wanted to make the buying process “smoother” and reduce the “stress and time” it had taken fans to get hold of tickets to its first shows in 16 years.

However, the commercial reality is that adding two new shows will be hugely lucrative as the tour, which started out with 14 dates in the UK & Ireland, has now quickly expanded to 19.

Birmingham City University has speculated that the original 14-date UK tour could bring in £400m in ticket sales and add-ons alone – about £28.5m a show.

With the addition of the two new shows the tour is now looking at a potential payday of about £550m for promoters, ticket sellers, management and the band.

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