MLB Go-Ahead Entry adds new parks to growing biometric roster

It’s baseball season again, and in biometrics circles, that means it’s time for a fresh round of Go-Ahead Entry deployments from MLB, powered by tech from NEC.

The Milwaukee Brewers will have the facial authentication system set up for opening day at American Family Field, where they say they want to help fans get into the ballpark more quickly. Target Field, home to the Minnesota Twins, will also have the optional facial recognition ticketing system in place. As will three gates at Dodger Stadium, stronghold of Major League Baseball’s current champions.

The biometric access initiative began in 2023 with an activation at Philadelphia’s Citizens Park and is now in use at venues for the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals, as well as the three teams mentioned above, bringing the total to 10.

In an interview with Fox6 News Milwaukee, Karri Zaremba, Senior Vice President of Ballpark Experience for MLB, says Go-Ahead Entry combines “free flow security screening with facial authentication and access control.”

A feature in Sports Business Journal cites data showing that Go-Ahead Entry lanes are 141 percent faster than traditional entry lanes, with 2.4 times higher capacity of scans per minute compared to traditional ticket barcode-scanning methods. The enrollment process takes an average of about 5 seconds.

The system appears on the publication’s list of its award winners for best in venue and franchise operations technology. Also on the list is Wicket, which it lauds for becoming the NFL’s on-field facial authentication provider in 2024.

Article Topics

access control  |  biometric ticketing  |  biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  facial authentication  |  MLB Go-Ahead Entry  |  NEC