Fortuna Dusseldorf's Ao Tanaka, centre, celebrates after scoring a goal, during the match between Fortuna Dusseldorf and FC Kaiserslautern, in Duesseldorf, Germany, Saturday, Oct, 21, 2023. The crowd watching Fortuna Duesseldorf in German soccer's second division all got in for free. Saturday's game was the first step in an audacious plan which Fortuna hopes could revolutionize soccer. (Roland Weihrauch/dpa via AP)
A crowd of 52,000 watched a thrilling win for Fortuna Duesseldorf in German soccer’s second division on Saturday.
And they all got in for free.
Saturday’s game was the first step in a “Fortuna for Everyone” plan to give away tickets for selected games, which Fortuna hopes could revolutionize how fans relate to club soccer. In future, it says it wants to offer every one of its home games for free.
The hope is to reconnect Fortuna, which last won a trophy in 1980, with its community and attract a new generation of fans.
The fans certainly enjoyed Fortuna’s win, and they may have inspired it, as the home team surged back from three goals down to beat Kaiserslautern 4-3. There were also some ugly moments.
By the time Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka scored a spectacular long-range goal to give Fortuna the lead, most of the stadium was on its feet to celebrate a remarkable comeback. The ultras — hardcore Fortuna fans behind one goal — let off flares and fireworks, defying a stadium announcement to “stop this nonsense.” At the final whistle, Fortuna players hugged or sank to their knees in celebration as if it were a final.
“It was something special, and with the win, unbelievable,” Fortuna defender Jamil Siebert said of the atmosphere.
Giving away tickets creates a shortfall of around 450,000 to 500,000 euros ($477,000 to $530,000) per game in lost revenue, CEO Alexander Jobst told reporters Wednesday. Fortuna aims to make that up by attracting new sponsors keen to advertise to a capacity crowd.
Jobst recalled facing down skepticism — “maybe that’s a bit typically German” — when “Fortuna for Everyone” was first announced in April that tickets with no face value could in fact bring value to the club.
“We believe and we gave the answer together with our fans and members, (that) the value of a football match is a sold out and a full stadium with a wonderful stadium experience,” he said. “That’s the value for broadcasters. That’s the value for sponsors. And even more important, that is the value for the fans. Experiencing a full stadium atmosphere is something which is unique.”
Jobst said there were 120,000 requests for tickets for Saturday’s game, most from the city and local area. Around 20 to 25% of those applying were new fans who hadn’t been to a Fortuna game before and there was a spike in membership applications and merchandise sales, he added.
Fortuna is far from unpopular — its average home attendance last season was nearly 30,000 — but the days when it could challenge Germany’s top clubs are long gone and it is used to having thousands of empty seats in its city-government-owned stadium near the airport.
Jobst said the financial hit of the pandemic meant the 128-year old club “had to have the courage to do something new.” Fortuna’s last season in the top-division Bundesliga in 2019-20 finished without crowds after COVID-19 hit.
Saturday’s game was the first of three this season with free tickets. The next, in the January cold, could test fans’ willingness to take up the offer.
Jobst said the club will decide at the end of the season how the three games have gone — and size up new sponsors — before deciding how many games to offer for free next season. By then, Fortuna could be preparing for a campaign in the top division. The club is two points off the lead of the second division after Saturday’s game.
