Fans criticise 'dynamic pricing' at Valencia

Valencia finished ninth in La Liga last season

After spending hours in an online queue last week, some Oasis fans were faced with a big price hike when buying tickets for the band's reunion tour - and the practice is coming to elite-level European football.

This week Spanish top-flight club Valencia announced they would use the controversial system of 'dynamic pricing' for home matches.

"Following the global trend in shows, sporting events and entertainment, Valencia will join this practice, which has the support and technology of La Liga," the club said.

"Tickets will therefore go on sale at a base price, which could increase as the days go by. Buying your tickets early will ensure you get the best price."

A spokesperson for Valencia supporters' group Libertad VCF told BBC Sport: "We are radically against it.

"It is a strategy of pure speculation based on demand without taking into consideration that football fans are not simply customers who don't care if they fly with Ryanair or British Airways.

"Those who can will bear it, and those who cannot will have their seat taken by a tourist who does not care whether Valencia win or lose."

A spokesperson for the Football Supporters' Association (FSA), which represents fans in England and Wales, said: "With impeccable timing after the Oasis fiasco, voices in football have started to float the idea of infecting football with dynamic pricing.

"Never underestimate the potential for the most greedy owners in football to try and import terrible ideas from other industries to exploit supporter loyalty.

"Matchgoers are already mobilising against the recent wave of price rises and attacks on concessions. Any underhand increases will be met with enormous opposition."

Furthermore, Football Supporters Europe - which represents fans across the continent - said: "FSE strongly opposes so-called 'dynamic pricing' in football. It is nothing but blatant greed - it's that simple."

The Premier League requires clubs to publish ticket prices at the start of each season, in theory preventing dynamic pricing.

About 70% of tickets sold by Premier League clubs are season tickets and not sold on an event-by-event basis.

But fan groups from clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham and Wolves have protested against changes to ticket prices and procedures made this year, with 19 of 20 Premier League clubs raising prices before the 2024-25 season, according to the FSA.

Revenue from ticket sales is crucial to the financial sustainability of the 72 clubs in the English Football League (EFL), and attendances across all fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two was a combined 23 million in 2023-24.

Dynamic pricing has not been discussed in any of the EFL’s regular forums with clubs.

Valencia, who are majority owned by former Salford City shareholder Peter Lim, said: "We understand the concern but we believe it's more about fairness.

"It wouldn’t be fair for someone who planned ahead and bought a ticket early to pay the same as someone who waited until the last minute.

"We believe that the primary concern is not the concept of dynamic pricing itself, as it’s a common practice in industries like concerts or airlines.

"Instead, the frustration seems to stem from the uncertainty surrounding fixture schedules. Fans find it challenging to plan and purchase tickets in advance without knowing when the games will take place."

Libertad VCF said: "What is not fair is that a fan, who loves his club, who went to the Mestalla for the first time when taken as a child by their father, who stuck by their club when it went down to the second division, is treated as a mere 'spectator'.

"The fans are not just customers - they are the ones who created the club, who have followed it throughout its history, and are the most important element of a club.

"Maybe that doesn't show in the financial accounts, but clubs without fans are nothing."

BBC Sport has contacted the Premier League, the EFL and La Liga for comment.