Should dynamic pricing, where ticket prices rise with demand, be banned for concerts and sport?
Dynamic pricing is not banned in the UK: sellers may change ticket prices with demand if they give clear, timely information under consumer law. The CMA can now fine firms up to 10% of global turnover for breaches. The 2024 Oasis sale triggered the row, though the CMA found Ticketmaster used tiered pricing, not dynamic pricing. In November 2025 the government said it would ban resale above face value but did not plan new legislation on primary-market pricing, and the resale cap was reported delayed in 2026.
3 Opinions
It’s just another method of greedy promotors and artists to rip off fans so should be banned. Touts can be prevented by other methods.
Dynamic pricing is just profiteering by another name. It should be illegal. I was at a Springsteen concert and comparing prices paid by people around me, there wss a £500 difference between highest and lowest prices paid in the same section for the same quality seats. Happily I paid one of the cheaper prices. It's why, apart from a few of my faves, I mainly stick to gigs in grass roots venues these days. Much better value for money.
500 years ago when humanity had only a very rudimentary understanding of economics, the suggestion that prices reacting to demand should be banned might have been understandable.