German club Fortuna Dusseldorf will be “happy” if other sides follow their “completely new concept in sports” – free tickets to all home matches.
The Second Division side will be offering free tickets to all fans for three matches next season.
But they are aiming to make attendance free for every game in five years.
“We might have identified a very good concept of football business for the future,” the club’s CEO, Alexander Jobst, told BBC Sport.
The club is working with sponsors who will cover the estimated 45m euro (£39.72m) cost of match tickets over five years so fans can attend for free.
Jobst explained the idea was to attract more fans and help sustain the club in the Bundesliga top flight.
“We said, let’s think completely new and let’s have the courage of identifying something which is fitting for our club and city, with the strong belief that our club belongs to our fans,” he added.
“This is a fundamental change of a business model of a professional football club.
“Football is for everyone and we believe that something could be changed for the future.”
Dusseldorf’s home stadium, Merkur Spiel-Arena, holds 54,600 fans and their average crowd is 28,000.
“We believe the demand will be even higher than before and a full stadium is a fantastic football experience and, with a 90-minute football match, it will be even more attractive than before,” Jobst added.
The club has spoken to the league and various stakeholders about the plan and, while it is tailored to the city of Dusseldorf, Jobst accepts others may sit up and take notice.
He said: “It might influence others in the way of thinking further, which we’ll be happy about, but our job is to our Fortuna, our city and our fans who love this club.”
“It is a unique concept for football and I am confident it will take Fortuna forward,” added Dusseldorf mayor Stephan Keller.
“You can feel that something new starts today. That could ignite a potential revolution in football.”
