Fixing Payment Lines

What Sucks

In my last post I focused on lines and delays around sports venue ingress and how Evolv Technology is improving the fan experience with its frictionless security systems. Unfortunately, there are also lines inside sports venues. Lines for restrooms. Lines for drinks. Lines for food. Lines for merchandise. Everything sports organizations want you to spend your hard-earned money on likely involves waiting in a line and missing live game action to do so.

About ten years ago I had mini season ticket plans to the New York Knicks. One year I had a half season plan! I loved being able to plan my schedule out, sit in the same seats for every game, and cheer on my all-time favorite basketball player, Carmelo Anthony. Let’s Go Orange! Once a Knick Always a Knick! Another thing I loved about attending so many games was being able to curate the best possible experience for myself. I had everything timed out to the minute:

• Show up 30 minutes before scheduled tip off (usually 7:40p ET) to get through security (ugh), grab a beer, and get settled in my seat for pre-game activities.

• Game stoppage under a minute in first quarter, grab another beer and a snack.

• Two minutes before half-time, hit the restroom and make it back in time for half-time festivities – cannot miss frisbee dogs or the GOAT of halftime entertainment, the Red Panda!

• End of the third quarter was a good time to hit a merch stand or the team store if I needed fresh gear.

It all became so… routine. And I loved every second of it. I rarely missed any game action that involved starters for either team and most importantly, I knew when and where to go to avoid lines. It’s been a long time since I regularly attended games at MSG, but I went back last season. I was a little rusty on timing everything out and I was not familiar enough with my section to completely game it, but by and large most of my tricks came back to me.

But what do you do if you’re not obsessed with these little nuances? What if you just accept that there will be lines and delays and that you’ll miss part of the action? What’s the big deal, right? Well, what if I told you may never have to wait in line for concessions or merchandise ever again?

Fixing Payment Lines

Full disclosure: I went into this post with the idea to write about Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology that is making its way into sports venues. Then I fell deep into a facial recognition rabbit hole. I had no idea how prevalent some of this technology already is or how rapidly the capabilities are expanding. I’ll stick to frictionless retail in this post, before a larger follow up on facial recognition technology next week. So give your phone a glance, check those notifications, then keep reading to learn about this game-changing technology. Welcome to the future, where there are no payment lines.

I first heard about Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology with the debut of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. I enjoy when complicated technology is easy to understand. In this case, fans scan their palm (via Amazon One tech) or swipe a credit card to enter a marketplace, grab what they want and then - wait for it - just walk out. Amazon leverages computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning to deliver a truly frictionless retail experience. Just Walk Out technology makes it easy enough for fans, but adding a palm scan via Amazon One makes the experience even better.

Just Walk Out markets are currently in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (Kraken), Lumen Field (Seahawks), and T-Mobile Park (Mariners), along with UBS Arena (New York Islanders), TD Garden (Boston Bruins and Celtics), Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros), the United Center (Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks), Bank of America Stadium (Carolina Panthers), Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Kings), and Texas A&M’s Kyle Field.

Stadium Tech Report does a fantastic job breaking down the frictionless retail space and other players in the market including Zippin and Verizon-backed AiFi. If you want to learn more I encourage you to check out the Summer 2022 Stadium Tech Report.

Zippin has soared to the top of the category by offering to share transaction data with teams and venues. Zippin is not a consumer-facing brand like Amazon so fans may not be familiar with the company, but it has at least 34 stores in sports venues such as Nissan Stadium (Tennessee Titans), Empower Field at Mile High (Denver Broncos), Barclays Center (Brooklyn Nets), AT&T Center (San Antonio Spurs), and Golden 1 Center (Sacramento Kings). Zippin in September announced four new ‘Zippin Lane’ shops at Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas Raiders), site of next year’s Super Bowl. Zippin Lanes allow venues to drive significant incremental revenue without having to install expensive camera systems or retrofit an existing space.

AiFi is making its claim by relying on camera systems without the need for revamped coolers or shelving. Teams can use their existing deployment systems which keeps costs down. AiFi, like Zippin, also shares transaction data with team and venue partners.

Together, Amazon, Zippin, and AiFi are changing the way fans buy things at sports venues. While none of these organizations expect an overnight transition to 100% frictionless payment solutions, it is expected that as fans continue to become more aware and more comfortable with the technology that it will spread quickly. Even a slight uptick in adoption will go a long way to reducing lines. In my next post I’ll examine the ways facial recognition technology is changing the fan experience from the moment you pull up to the venue. We’re talking much more than just walking out of a retail space.

Thanks for reading!

Amazon's Just Walk Out and One technology at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena. Credit: GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser

'Zippin Lane' at Allegiant Stadium. Credit: Zippin / Las Vegas Raiders

Michelob Ultra-branded Just Walk Out store at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Credit: Fiserv Forum / Amazon

Bud Light Seltzer Just Walk Out store at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Credit: Crypto.com Arena / Amazon

TD Garden MRKT stores, powered by Amazon's Just Walk Out Technology. Credit: Amazon