Smarter stadium ingress reshapes venue security and fan experience

Stadiums are tightening security as new UK rules take effect, with Liverpool FC shifting to full‑search entry and reworking ingress to balance safety with fan experience. Technology vendors are pushing mobile, biometric access tools such as Janam’s GTX+ to speed up screening, while Australian venues are expanding facial authentication ticketing through Wicket.

On changing legislation and guest expectations

On a webinar Peter Evans, CEO of Xtract One, and Chris Markey, Liverpool Football Club’s vice president of safety, security and operations, spoke on the challenges facing stadiums and arenas in a new era of mandatory security standards.

In “Safe, Seamless, Sold Out: Reimagining Security for Modern Sports Venues,” Markey explained that UK venues are in flux as legislation brought in following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing is implemented. The rules stipulate that premises will need a security regime ready to be inspected by the Home Office and the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Liverpool FC has spent a great deal of time reviewing its security posture and this season made a big change — moving to 100 percent searching of supporters entering the stadium. Not every football stadium does 100 percent searching, Markey said. “It’s a culture change for supporters and everyone coming to the stadium.”

The challenge is balancing safety, security and service, which is a widely used framework across the UK and Europe. Safety covers infrastructure and management plans; security includes stewarding and physical measures; service is how fans are treated. As Markey noted: “Security and guest experience kind of butt heads.”

The club saw long queues outside the stadium after kickoff when additional screening steps were added to the ingress process. “We don’t want to negatively impact the event experience, but we have to keep people safe,” Markey said. “That balance is the biggest challenge.”

Liverpool has adjusted its ingress plans to improve flow, which includes moving Xtract One scanners about five meters away from turnstiles. “It gives us breathing space — individual scan through, then straight to the turnstile, scan the ticket and into the stadium.”

Adapting ingress to needs, operational efficiency and pilots

Evans noted that venue preferences differ between North America and Europe. Some operators prefer ticket scanning first to create an orderly flow into screening lanes. Others put security screening further out to ensure no one with a weapon reaches the venue.

But ticket‑first approaches can create complications, such as if a fan scans their ticket and is later stopped at screening, staff must digitally “uncancel” the ticket if the person needs to return to their car. “There are benefits to both,” Evans said. “It comes down to what’s best for the venue, because every venue is different.”

Markey said deploying scanners at one of Liverpool’s main stands has allowed the club to redeploy staff to other parts of the stadium to reduce queues and respond to issues. “It hasn’t necessarily made it more financially efficient, but it’s made it operationally more efficient,” he said. “We can put resources where we need them without further investment.”

Evans emphasized that Xtract One “almost insists” on pilots or demonstrations before full deployment. “What we can write on paper — staff saved, ingress speeds, increased security — is just a paper exercise until someone tests it in their environment,” he said.

Pilots help venues understand flow, concept of operations, and whether ticketing should come before or after screening. “Whether you’re a 6,000‑person stadium or 60,000, it may or may not be financially viable, it may or may not be more secure,” Evans said. “Until you run it in the real world, it’s just theory. Give it a go — you never know what you’ll learn.”

Janam unveils GTX+ for mobile entry powered by face authentication

Janam Technologies has launched GTX+, a new mobile entry pedestal designed to help stadiums and event venues adopt facial authentication more easily and at lower cost.

The HID-owned company pitches the mobile entry system as a flexible alternative to fixed biometric infrastructure. GTX+ gives venues the option to deploy face authentication at busy entry points without wired networking or permanent installations.

“It gives venues a single platform to validate every major credential type, including face biometrics, while leveraging the same Janam hardware many of them already use for handheld ticket scanning,” says Harry B. Lerner, CEO at Janam.

GTX+ expands its existing GTX platform with a taller design optimized for biometric verification but it still supports rapid validation of barcodes, QR codes, NFC wallet passes, wristbands and other modern credentials.

The unit is powered by Janam’s XT4 rugged mobile computer and integrates Wicket’s facial authentication system. It uses the same XT4 devices already common in handheld ticket scanning so venues can extend functionality without replacing existing hardware, according to the company.

“By supporting Wicket’s facial authentication platform on GTX+, Janam is giving venues a practical way to deploy privacy-first biometric access across a wide range of environments,” says Alastair Partington, CEO at Wicket.

The pedestal also includes advanced NFC support for fast tap‑and‑go validation of Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes.

Australia expects more face biometric ticketing

Facial recognition ticketing is expanding in Australia as AFL clubs and event venues test technology that lets fans enter using their face rather than a paper or digital ticket. The system, supplied by Wicket, has been available at the Australian Open since 2024 and is now in use at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium, where members can opt in to “express entry” lanes.

Fans link their Ticketmaster account, submit a selfie and use facial authentication for the rest of the season. Images are converted into mathematical templates and deleted at season’s end, according to the company.

Wicket says facial entry speeds up queues and reduces congestion, noting every NFL team in the U.S. uses the technology for some form of access. The company is in discussions with several other AFL clubs and plans to expand into concerts and conferences.

Privacy experts, however, warn that incentives such as loyalty‑point rewards may undermine genuine consent under the Privacy Act. Lauren Perry of the University of Technology Sydney said biometric data is highly sensitive and valuable, raising concerns about future “scope creep” if venues retain control of the information.

Wicket says venues, not the company, own the data and that its product would need significant changes to be used for surveillance. The Geelong Cats say the program is fully optional and designed to improve match day experience. As facial ticketing becomes widespread in the U.S., industry figures believe adoption will spread across Australian live events in the coming years.

Article Topics

biometric ticketing  |  face biometrics  |  facial authentication  |  HID  |  Janam Technologies  |  Wicket  |  Xtract One