Bundesliga side SV Darmstadt 98 "became one of the sensations of German football" in '15 when it won promotion to the Bundesliga for "the first time in a third of a century," according to Toby Keel of EUROSPORT. As if that story were not "already heartwarming enough," the club now has "a new treat for their hard-up fans: they are giving away season tickets to unemployed, aged or young fans" who would not otherwise be able to afford to pay for their seats. This is "no one-off gimmick to fill an empty stadium, either, but instead a continuation of a long-standing policy." Darmstadt's aging, "character-filled ground was bursting at the seams for every single home match last season," and it could comfortably have found enough people to pay the €288 ($320) that a standard season ticket costs for '16-17. The club has stuck to its "long-established principles of helping long-suffering supporters by offering a limited number of tickets for free." Club VP Markus Pfitzner said, "It’s important for us to enable people with lower income to visit our games" (EUROSPORT, 7/18).
