CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Some Carolina Panthers at Sunday’s game against Atlanta won’t have to deal with tickets at all thanks to a new partnership between Bank of America Stadium and Verizon.
The stadium and wireless provider will offer facial recognition to Silver Club members to get them through the gates without needing to scan a ticket. The goal is to streamline the entry process, which can get backed up on game day. Stadium officials say the process is pretty simple. Ticketholders will walk up to a facial scanner and it will determine if they’re allowed inside. If a fan’s face isn’t in the system, they won’t be allowed in without a physical ticket to scan.
Bank of America Stadium joins 29 other venues in the U.S. to roll out facial recognition for select fans, according to Verizon’s Michael Ruhnke. Fans who are members of the Panthers’ Silver Club will scan a special QR code and opt in using a picture of themselves. From there, it’s as simple as unlocking an iPhone, according to Ruhnke.
“I go up, I let the system recognize me, it sees my tickets,” he said. “And there’s no pressure, which I think is a very important message.”
The Panthers understand not all fans are on board with the new technology. All ticket holders have the opportunity to opt-out of facial recognition at Bank of America Stadium.
“You can choose and see it in action and not participate,” Caroline Wright with Tepper Sports and Entertainment said.
There have been a few issues nationally when it comes to facial recognition at sporting venues. Earlier this year, a New York lawyer whose firm is involved in litigation against Madison Square Garden was banned using the facial recognition technology. When asked about this type of security measure, officials with Tepper Sports and Entertainment pointed back toward the streamlining of getting fans in the stadium.
For now, Wright says this technology will only be used for Panthers games. Charlotte FC and concerts won’t be using it just yet, but expansion of facial recognition is a possibility.
“We have the ability to be flexible,” Wright said.
But what about stadium workers whose job it is to check and scan tickets? There’s no need to worry, according to Wright.
“I would suggest everyone needs help and that help comes in the form of a human,” Wright explained. “The opportunity for us is to provide tools to make these seamless and that’s a combination of both people and technology.”
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.