Gillette Stadium looks to facial recognition for ticketing, payments, more

Sometime in the 1990s, cinemas underwent a transformation from smaller multiplexes to massive, megaplexes with new features and a theme park vibe. A similar sort of shift is happening in stadiums, but with biometrics. Live event and sports venues are embracing facial recognition as a way to eliminate lines, enable biometric payments and generally improve the fan experience.

The latest to do so is Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots and New England Revolution Major League Soccer (MLS) team – all three of which belong to the Kraft Group, owned by U.S. billionaire Robert Kraft. A press release says the group has announced a five-year strategic partnership with New England-based NWN, a firm that offers a proprietary “Experience Management Platform” to facilitate intelligent workplace, customer experience, cybersecurity and other elements of the technology framework, including face biometrics.

NWN’s biometrics system is already being used for credentialing and access control. Modifications to improve the fan experience include network upgrades, modernized cloud collaboration solutions, advanced wayfinding and AI-enabled applications. By expanding coverage and providing ongoing support, the goal is to create a seamless journey from ticketless stadium entry to concessions and purchases at the venue and beyond.

The move to transform the stadium is part of a larger plan to revamp the framework underpinning the entire Kraft Group enterprise business portfolio, which includes sports and entertainment, paper and packaging, real estate and private equity investing.

The sports piece includes a brand-new, stand-alone training facility for the Patriots, for which NWN is providing best-in-class IT infrastructure for players and coaches, including AI environmental system monitoring that adjusts temperatures and “cutting-edge virtual reality rooms.”

The terms of the IT investment in Kraft’s infrastructure has not been disclosed. But in an interview with CRN, Kraft Group CIO Michael Israel says “the amount of technology spend that’s going to be coming during this period related to transforming our networks is unprecedented. We have not done something as enormous as this during our history here.”

Jim Sullivan, president and CEO of NWN, says “the Kraft Group is one of the largest privately-held companies in the United States, and we are proud to be a strategic partner to support the dynamic needs of their diverse portfolio.”

NWN launched a brand redesign to mark the significant partnership, its first in professional sports.

MLB biometric Go-Ahead Entry program expands concessions use cases

The new baseball season will also see MLB expand its Go-Ahead Entry biometric ticketing system. The system is already deployed at nine stadiums for entry. Now, its applications are being expanded, with pilots by the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Guardians to test different biometric “purchase experiences” for concessions.

Mashable says the optional trial involves a partnership with Mastercard for a digital wallet inside the MLB Ballpark app.

Use cases for biometrics at live venues continue to grow in number. At a panel during the live music industry’s Pollstar Live conference, AiFi CEO Steve Carlin noted Intuit Dome’s use of facial recognition to allow fans to grab and go with food and beverages at concerts.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometric ticketing  |  biometrics  |  digital wallets  |  facial recognition  |  Mastercard  |  MLB Go-Ahead Entry  |  NFL  |  NWN