Fans criticise 'dynamic pricing' at Valencia

After spending hours successful an online queue past week, Oasis fans were faced pinch a large value hike erstwhile buying tickets for nan band's reunion circuit - and nan believe is coming to elite-level European football.

This week Spanish top-flight nine Valencia announced they would usage nan arguable strategy of 'dynamic pricing' for location matches.

"Following nan world inclination successful shows, sporting events and entertainment, Valencia will subordinate this practice, which has nan support and exertion of La Liga," nan nine said.

"Tickets will truthful spell connected waste astatine a guidelines price, which could summation arsenic nan days spell by. Buying your tickets early will guarantee you get nan champion price."

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

"It is simply a strategy of axenic speculation based connected request without taking into information that shot fans are not simply customers who don't attraction if they alert pinch Ryanair aliases British Airways.

"Those who tin will carnivore it, and those who cannot will person their spot taken by a tourer who does not attraction whether Valencia triumph aliases lose."

A spokesperson for nan Football Supporters' Association (FSA), which represents fans successful England and Wales, said: "With impeccable timing aft nan Oasis fiasco, voices successful shot person started to float nan thought of infecting shot pinch move pricing.

"Never underestimate nan imaginable for nan astir greedy owners successful shot to effort and import unspeakable ideas from different industries to utilization protagonist loyalty.

"Matchgoers are already mobilising against nan caller activity of value rises and attacks connected concessions. Any underhand increases will beryllium met pinch tremendous opposition."

The Premier League requires clubs to people summons prices astatine nan commencement of each season, successful mentation preventing move pricing.

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

But instrumentality groups from clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham and Wolves person protested against changes to summons prices and procedures made this year, pinch 19 retired of 20 Premier League clubs raising prices earlier nan 2024-25 season, according to nan FSA.

Revenue from summons income is important to nan financial sustainability of nan 72 clubs successful nan English Football League (EFL), and attendances crossed each fixtures successful nan Championship, League One and League Two was a mixed 23 cardinal successful 2023-24.

Dynamic pricing has not been discussed successful immoderate of nan EFL’s regular forums pinch clubs.

Valencia, who are mostly owned by Salford City shareholder Peter Lim said: "We understand nan interest but we judge it’s much astir fairness.

"It wouldn’t beryllium adjacent for personification who planned up and bought a summons early to salary nan aforesaid arsenic personification who waited until nan past minute.

"We judge that nan superior interest is not nan conception of move pricing itself, arsenic it’s a communal believe successful industries for illustration concerts aliases airlines.

"Instead, nan vexation seems to stem from nan uncertainty surrounding fixture schedules. Fans find it challenging to scheme and acquisition tickets successful beforehand without knowing erstwhile nan games will return place."

Libertad VCF said: "What is not adjacent is that a fan, who loves his club, who went to nan Mestalla for nan first clip erstwhile taken arsenic a kid by their father, who stuck by their nine erstwhile it went down to nan 2nd division, is treated arsenic a specified 'spectator'.

"The fans are not conscionable customers - they are nan ones who created nan club, who person followed it passim its history, and are nan astir important constituent of a club.

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

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