Oasis ticket drama and what 'dynamic pricing' might mean for football

It is the music story of the year, perhaps the decade, as Liam and Noel Gallagher agreed to set aside their differences and bring Oasis back to the stage for an initial 17-date UK tour.

Demand for tickets for the return of one of British music’s most iconic bands has been enormous, with all dates sold out and the band potentially adding more, with those tickets likely to be snapped up in a matter of minutes too.

But it hasn’t been without controversy, with thousands of fans left disappointed in their bid to get tickets last week as the use of ‘dynamic pricing’, where prices can adjust in moments in real-time, in response to supply and demand. Fans who stayed on the line in the hope of getting Oasis tickets for one price were faced with steep hikes in the time that they remained on the phone, and the phenomenon of dynamic pricing is something that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was quizzed on when appearing on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Currently permitted by law, Starmer pledged to look into the matter, stating that "there are a number of things that we can" and "should do".

"Because otherwise you get to the situation where families simply can't go or are absolutely spending a fortune on tickets," he said. He added the government would be consulting on the future of the law, which "may well mean adjustments".

The stance from government in the wake of the issue, brought to the fore by the demand for tickets for the return of one of Manchester’s most famous exports, could be a timely one for football fans too, with Spanish side Valencia, a club owned by former Salford City minority shareholder Peter Lim, whose stake was purchased earlier this summer by Ammies owner and Manchester United legend Gary Neville, being the first club to