Big league sports teams and the stadiums they use are considering the use of face biometrics for fan entry and concessions payments, with the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos of the National Football League among the latest to unveil plans.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, home to the Falcons and Atlanta United of Major League Soccer, is planning a trial with between 50 and 100 holders of season tickets in the club-seat section, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The voluntary trial will use facial recognition to identify ticket-holders, and specify how many tickets they have. Eventually, it could be extended to automate purchases at restaurants, bars and concession stands.

A representative of the two Atlanta clubs’ parent company, AMB Sports & Entertainment (AMBSE), says palm print biometrics could also be considered, and that fans will be surveyed to assess the effectiveness of the technologies. Any timeline for a production deployment of stadium biometrics would only be set after the assessments show it is ready for the big leagues.

TendedBar has been launched at Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, by concessions operators Aramark to verify guests’ age and identity with facial recognition from Trueface, writes local outlet 9News.

The service also includes analytics that allow it to offer fans the same drink selection as previously purchased.

Three TendedBar locations are not in operation at the stadium.

Enrolling for TendedBar involves QR code and driver’s license scans and a two-minute process on the fan’s mobile device.

Biometric bars are also in operation at Jacksonville Jaguars home games, while stadium access control with facial recognition has been deployed by baseball’s New York Mets and other teams.

Trueface recently upgraded its facial recognition SDK’s accuracy, speed and architecture, and TendedBar raised $5 million in a Series A funding round at the beginning of 2022.

access control  |  biometric ticketing  |  biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  facial authentication  |  identity verification  |  mobile app  |  payments  |  TendedBar

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