After angering Lionel Messi and Inter Miami fans in the United States last season and Oasis fans in England this week, dynamic pricing, one of America’s worst innovations, has entered the world of European soccer.
LaLiga side Valencia has announced that it will use dynamic pricing for its matchday sales tickets this season.
If you don’t know what dynamic pricing is by now, you should consider yourself lucky. Dynamic pricing is when ticket sellers use an algorithm to automatically change ticket prices depending on the demand for the tickets.
Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek and all the major American ticket exchange sites now use dynamic pricing.
On paper, the process seems sound. If you buy your tickets at the right time, you could end up getting a bargain deal. In practice, dynamic pricing results in customers getting ripped off.
You just have to look at what happened last season with Inter Miami to see what I mean.
When Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami last season, the World Cup winner brought with him millions of new eyes to MLS and his new club. This caused the demand for Inter Miami tickets to skyrocket. Thanks to Inter Miami’s partnership with Ticketmaster–the inventors of dynamic pricing–this meant that ticket prices also skyrocketed.
Forbes estimated in July 2023 that Inter Miami ticket prices rose 500% on average after Messi joined. Some matches saw an increase of as much as 1000%. ‘Cheap’ tickets that used to sell for under $30 were now selling for hundreds of dollars. More expensive seats started going for thousands of dollars.
Many die-hard Inter Miami fans were priced out of watching the greatest player of all time suit up for their team last season because of these massive increases. As a result, the club also struggled to sell out Chase Stadium. Less than 20,000 fans saw Inter Miami’s 4-0 win against Atlanta United in Messi’s second-ever game with the club.
It wasn’t just Miami fans who suffered from dynamic pricing either. Inter Miami away games also saw massive ticket increases. Fans rushed to buy tickets to see Messi play in their home cities. Some Charlotte FC fans paid close to $1,000 for their tickets against the Herons last season.
More recently, dynamic pricing reared its ugly head in England. Last week, many Oasis fans paid double the original asking price for Oasis reunion tour tickets. This was considered so extreme that the UK government plans to investigate Ticketmaster over its dynamic pricing tactics.
Despite all the controversy in the US and the UK, Valencia has decided to use dynamic pricing for the 2024/25 LaLiga season.
Valencia posted a statement to its website advertising tickets for its Matchday 1 fixture against Barcelona.
“One of the new features of the 2024-25 season will be the implementation of dynamic pricing for ticket purchases,” Valencia said. “Following the global trend in shows, sporting events and entertainment, Valencia CF will join this practice, which has the support and technology of LaLiga.”
“Tickets will therefore go on sale at a base price, which could increase as the days go by, always subject to various parameters such as the occupancy of the stadium area and the proximity of the date, among others.”
According to Spanish soccer expert Colin Millar, Valencia’s dynamic pricing has already caused Valencia ticket prices to increase “several times over.” He also called the practice a “slippery slope” for the rest of LaLiga.
Given what transpired in MLS with Inter Miami, he is right. Hopefully, for the sake of Spanish soccer fans, Valencia backtracks from its decision to use dynamic pricing. It is also significant that dynamic pricing does not become a widespread trend in LaLiga.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
