Fans in a stadium can make a soccer game more fun to watch on TV. Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

A free soccer ticket experiment

Paris F.C., a second-division French soccer club, stopped charging for most tickets late last year. The move, which will cost the club about $1 million, is an effort to bring in bigger crowds and nurture long-term loyalty.

The tactic seems to have worked: Crowds are up by more than a third. Games that have been scheduled at times that appeal to school-age kids have been the best attended, indicating that the club is succeeding in attracting a younger demographic.

But the experiment may have broader implications for the world of sports, which is now largely a television business. If sports are content, then part of that content is provided by cheering fans in stadiums.

How then, my colleague Rory Smith wonders, should fans be categorized? Are they observers required to pay for the privilege? Or should they be considered part of the production, and perhaps even be paid to attend?