The future is here, like it or not.
It’s just a month away from the Cowboys’ season kickoff, and fans better stay on their best behavior once the stadium doors reopen. This year, the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL will use facial recognition software to identify each fan who enters a stadium for a game.
The league took a test drive with facial authentication technology last year through the use of “Express Entry” at several NFL stadiums. The system, launched by Verizon and software startup Wicket, allowed fans to pre-enroll their facial scans into a database that allows them to enter stadiums in conjunction with walkthrough security scanners at a walking pace.
The trial run seems to have scored big, as Wicket COO Jeff Boehm announced the program’s league-wide expansion for the 2024 season. In a LinkedIn post, Boehm said Wicket’s facial authentication software will “streamline and secure the credentialing program” and “ensure that properly credentialed media, officials, staff and guests can easily and safely access restricted areas, including the playing field, press box or locker rooms.”
The selfie-based biometrics system runs alongside Accredit Solutions’ accreditation software, which checks credentials at security checkpoints throughout the stadiums. Those who have registered credential badges can have a real-time selfie compared to a user-submitted photo that is already in the system’s files at a checkpoint.
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One of the main purposes for the system is to provide accountability, according to a Sports Business Journal interview with Billy Langenstein, senior director of security services for the NFL.
“[The league and the teams] know every single person who is being credentialed to work an NFL game, who they are and the access levels they should have to do their job,” Langenstein said to SBJ. “And a big part of it is accountability for those individuals, embracing it, learning it and evaluating the safety and security of the program.”
Major League Baseball has been using similar technology this season, and a note at the bottom of this article says that Wicket “tested facial recognition for ticketing at this year’s Australian Open”. In other words, expect this to spread out to the rest of the sports world. I guess it makes sense, it’s just a little dizzying to me.