A new study has revealed that UEFA Champions League tickets are lower than current Major League Soccer seats. Football Supporters Europe (FSE), a non-profit fan network, conducted a recent investigation into ticket prices across Europe. They were able to determine which clubs charged away fans the most money for tickets to matches.
According to the report, Bayern Leverkusen asked traveling supporters to pay as low as $16.50 per Champions League ticket last season. On average, Bundesliga sides charged fans significantly less per seat compared to other clubs in the competition. The average price for an away ticket during the 2022/23 campaign in the Champions League was about $51.50.
On the other side, Scottish teams ended up charging traveling fans the most. Celtic and Rangers regularly asked away fans to pay around $77 for tickets to their games. This is the maximum allowed by UEFA under recent rule changes. Both of the clubs finished bottom of their respective groups with zero combined wins during the 2022/23 season.
Europe’s governing body of the sport previously announced a price cap of $77 for Champions League away tickets in 2019. The move was met with praise across the continent. However, there are still calls on ways to lower the ticket prices even further by the fans.
“It is FSE’s firm position that clubs have a responsibility to reward the loyalty of traveling fans and to facilitate affordable pricing, especially considering the increase of revenue for all clubs during the next UCC cycle,” stated the company’s executive director Ronan Evain.
“We will be monitoring this season’s away ticket prices closely, and continue to drive this message with UEFA and stakeholders.”
One of the key areas to help bring down prices was to introduce more safe standing places for fans. FSE is working with UEFA on this issue. The average ticket price for fans to stand during Champions League games is currently 28% lower than actual seats.
While European fans are still not exactly happy with current prices for Champions League matches, American soccer supporters would be thrilled with their current arrangement. Ticketing platform SeatGeek previously revealed that the average Major League Soccer ticket costs about the same as an average Champions League seat.
These prices, however, were during the regular season of MLS. Tickets for playoff games of the North American league are now at least double the price. The lowest-priced ticket on Ticketmaster for Houston’s matchup with LAFC is currently $100. Cincinnati’s game against Columbus is even more expensive. The cheapest ticket for the Eastern Conference semifinal is currently $151. The two games are set to kick off on Saturday, December 2nd.
MLS is steadily growing as a league and has improved drastically since forming in 1996. Nevertheless, even the biggest American soccer fan would not say that the level of play is comparable to the UEFA Champions League. The European tournament is the premier club competition in the sport.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
