Aston Villa is placing its media rights up for sale in a bid to turn itself into a more fan-friendly club.
The football club, which last August was bought by billionaire US businessman Randy Lerner, will release a tender document this week.
A first for the club, it will outline Aston Villa's vision for next season's domestic and international television rights, mobile, home video, website, matchday video and broadband services.
The club is also investigating a "centralised production process" which could allow much of its media content to created "in-house".
The document has been driven by new chief executive Richard FitzGerald, who has a strong background in new media.
He joined the club after spending 18 years at sports, entertainment and media group IMG where he was involved in a groundbreaking deal to stream all live action from the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
In response to the launch of Villa's media tender, Mr FitzGerald said: "The development and presentation of our media is an important part of the team’s image – both domestically and internationally.
"The formation of this media tender is a crucial step in Aston Villa FC’s development. The emphasis is to be on the fans’ experience, to simplify the overall production process and to create an integrated marketing proposition for our partners."
The document will be distributed to the club's existing partners and sent to any other media organisations that contact the club.
The media tender is part of a catalogue of changes being developed by the club since its sale to the consortium lead by US businessman Randy Lerner last year.
It is already involving fans in discussion groups looking at the branding of the club, its logo and strapline. Club spokesman Phil Mepham said it was an opportunity to extend the range of media services Villa could offer its fans.
He said: "Our aim is to ensure greater efficiency . It allows us to be in control, ensuring that what is offered is what the fans want.
"We've set up various consultation groups and as a consequence of are in a good position to produce what the fans want."
The tender document was prompted by the need to renew the contract for Villa's website. The original contract, held by sports and entertainment group Premium TV, runs out this summer.
Mr Mepham said Premium TV would be able to tender for the new contract, but Villa were also open to other suggestions.
He said: "By opening up to tender we hope to introduce a different look and feel for the club.
"New media moves forward very quickly, so this is an opportunity to see what's out there."
A source close to the situation said the tender was a move in the right direction for a club that had in the past suffered from an "elitist" image.
He said: "It is good news. Villa's public image has been a disgrace and it is good to see the new management trying to appeal to the fans.
"The website has also suffered from being middle of the road, as Premium TV are responsible for Premiership club website and they all end up looking the same.
"But with a new chief executive with commercial experience of the web, I can only assume that the replacement is going to be of very high quality."
