Leeds United Supporters’ Trust have said they strongly oppose the introduction of surge pricing at Elland Road, following comments from the club’s chairman.
Speaking at the Leaders Week London conference at Stamford Bridge last week, Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe said he had been thinking about the introduction of “dynamic pricing”.
“There’s probably an opportunity to do it in a way that does increase revenue,” Marathe said. “But also makes it affordable for your most hardcore fans.
“Off the pitch, something that I’ve been thinking about is pricing tickets in the stadium doing dynamic pricing, similar to how the airline industry does it.
“Not just to make to maximise price, but if there’s a way to truly dynamically price based on your supporters – how frequently they go and how much they transact and interact with the club – we can make it more affordable for those folks or certain seats where it’s a little bit more of a hospitality corporate area.”
Surge pricing is a common practice in the US sports world, where Parathe served as president of 49ers Enterprises, the owners of the San Francisco 49ers and now majority owners of Leeds United.
Since the conference, Leeds United Supporters’ Trust have sought clarification over Marathe’s comments.”The club have said there are no plans at present to introduce this and we have been assured this would not be done without relevant supporter consultation,” the trust said.
“However, we would always strongly oppose any model that results in fans paying more per ticket based on demand.”
What does the FSA think?
Surge pricing models can lead to significant price increases depending on demand – and the FSA has previously spoken out against its use in football.
Back in 2025, we provided evidence to a Government consultation on secondary ticketing platforms and dynamic pricing.
FSA chair Tom Greatrex said: “Dynamic pricing models are just the latest way in which some are determined to exploit the loyalty of football supporters, without any recognition of the downsides on atmosphere, occasion and attendance, that are an integral part of what makes elite football so marketable.
“It is only a couple of years since clubs and owners said football without fans is nothing – this approach risks pricing out the fans whose loyalty, passion and commitment is part of the ‘product’ sold around the world.”
At this summer’s World Cup, FIFA introduced surge pricing leading to some truly eye-watering prices at many of the tournament’s fixtures. In response European consumer rights advocates, supported by our friends at Football Supporters Europe, called on the EU to regulate the practice in music and sport.