Biometrics a high priority for stadiums and live venues in 2025

Stadiums, arenas and other venues for sports and live events are likely to follow airports as places that bring biometrics to the masses. New survey results show almost half of venues (47 percent) consider biometrics a top initiative for 2025.

The Stadium Connectivity Outlook survey, supported by Verizon and Stadium Tech Report, also shows 37 percent of respondents already using biometrics for applications that include verification of credentials for staff and media entrances.

That makes credentialing and authentication for access control the top category for biometric deployments, indicating increasing trust in face authentication and other biometric credentialing systems. It is followed by ticketing and entry at 14 percent, premium or VIP seating at 8, and concessions at 7 percent.

That final category would seem likely to curve steeply upward as technology enables cashless payments for food and merchandise purchases, age verification for alcohol sales, and other innovative biometric integrations that improve fan experience.

Indeed, 58 percent of respondents have cashierless concessions tech on their roadmap for 2025, and a key takeaway is that “cashierless concessions, biometric solutions and walk-through security scanners are tops on venues’ technology deployment lists, while generative AI is also a growing focus.”

Yet the survey notes that market growth may be leveling off, since 70 percent of venues have already adopted cashierless concessions in some form. More than 50 percent of those have five or more cashierless checkout kiosks.

Priority number one for venues is improved wireless access at venues.

Wicket’s facial authentication coming to college football

A summary of the paper in Stadium Tech Report highlights Wicket’s success with biometric deployments across pro sports venues.

“Wicket has been the leader in this space, with customers like the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Mets and the Tennessee Titans among those using Wicket-based systems for ticket verification,” says the piece. “According to end users, the facial-authentication ticketing systems can be noticeably faster than traditional hand-held or kiosk-based ticket scanning of barcodes or NFC transactions.”

Wicket is also the provider for the NFL’s league-wide facial authentication program for media and staff access to on-field and other sensitive areas. It is now closing in on the college football market, with facial authentication deployments at The University of Florida’s last two home football games of the season at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It is the first university to go live with Wicket’s tech.

Earlier in November, the company announced it has been named a Cool Vendor in the “2024 Gartner Cool Vendors in Event Technology Tools” report. In a release acknowledging the inclusion, Alastair Partington, CEO of Wicket, says “clients have seen a significant reduction in event check-in times, and event attendees consistently rank the facial check-in process as one of the best event experiences.”

Biometrics deeply integrated into new $2 billion Intuit Dome

The new Intuit Dome, home to the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, gets a nod from Stadium Tech Report as “probably the leader in the biometrics space,” ahead of the curve in offering an app that allows visitors to use facial authentication for ticketing as well as for concession and merchandise purchases.

Per KCRW news, the Intuit Dome is the “first to pair the latest in smartphone technology with facial recognition to interact with fans in real time.” It links a digital ticket to a user’s name, phone number, email address and zip code. Credit card info can be added for purchases, and users can upload a selfie for the venue’s facial recognition database.

Fans who don’t have a smartphone will have to pick up a tappable wristband with the same capabilities. In other words, if you want to go to the Intuit Dome, you’re probably going to have to register your facial biometrics. Reporting from Front Office Sports says “it’s nearly impossible to function around the arena without downloading the ‘LA Clippers + Intuit Dome’ mobile app.”

Once you’re in the system, potential perks include personalized greetings when entering the Wall fan zone, where reaching a certain decibel level triggers a free digital coupon, as well as push reminders about parking.

Venue security likely a bigger priority for fans than data security

Not everyone is a fan of the digitized fan experience. Critics point to a society desensitized to mass surveillance and the risks that come with surrendering so much personal data.

A notable example of misuse of the technology is the case of Radio City Music Hall and in New York City, which has used facial recognition software to bar access to attorneys involved in lawsuits against its parent company, Madison Square Garden Entertainment.

Still, a grim reality in the current moment is that increases in global conflict are likely to eventually spur a rise in terrorism, in which live event venues have been used as targets in the past. (Think of the security incidents at the Arianna Grande concert in Manchester or the Bataclan in Paris.)

Proactive monitoring to spot threats before they reach venue

Oosto, a firm that provides real-time AI facial recognition monitoring of existing security camera feeds, cites numbers from the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security showing that 69.3 percent of fans factor security into their decision to attend an event. Many fans are willing to pay extra for increased security protocols.

In a recent appearance on the Innovation Obsessed podcast, Matt Plantier and Patrick Welsh from Oosto discuss the critical importance of getting it right on safety. Plantier says unauthorized access is the biggest problem in the stadium space, citing a recent instance in which someone impersonated a security guard to try and gain access to a Taylor Swift concert.

Emergency mustering is also a worry: in the event of a fire or crisis, how to get people out and make sure everyone is accounted for. Welsh points to problems at the recent Copa America mishap where a choke-point led to chaos, due in part to unauthorized individuals accessing the venue.

Oosto advocates for a proactive approach that identifies individuals of concern before they reach the venue perimeter, via AI-assisted security surveillance in transit systems, Uber drop-off zones, parking lots and other potential risk points in the total fan journey.

In Ooosto’s system, “skilled personnel who can spot potential threats and respond effectively” work hand in hand with tools like facial recognition, and body and behavior detection.

“You have information,” says Welsh. “Now make it actionable.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  facial authentication  |  facial recognition  |  Oosto  |  Wicket