You may have to wait in traffic when going to a Tampa Bay Rays game, but getting through the Tropicana Field gates just got a little easier for some fans.
Beginning with Friday night’s game against the San Diego Padres, the Rays will become the latest Major League Baseball team to use an optional biometric facial-recognition, hands-free system called Go-Ahead Entry.
It may sound a touch Orwellian, but it’s only for ages 18 and older and requires registration.
“After registering, fans simply walk in,” Rays chief business officer Bill Walsh tells MLB.com.
Well, the technology is a bit more complicated, but fans will never know.
First step: Sign up for Go-Ahead Entry through the MLB Ballpark app, which holds your game tickets.
Users who opt-in must capture an image of their face on their phones that will be converted into an alphanumeric code known as a token; then the image is deleted. The biometrics are stored by MLB’s facial authentication partner and will be associated with the fan’s account.
When a fan enters, the system performs a facial scan and converts the scan to a token. It will then search for a match among all enrolled fans. Once the fan is validated, the system will automatically scan all tickets under the account allowing entry into the ballpark.
Minors can accompany a parent or legal guardian who has enrolled.
Walsh promises Go-Ahead will “dramatically improve the experience at Tropicana Field by reducing lines and eliminating the need to scan tickets.”
The technology is available at gates 1, 5, 6 and 7.
Once enrolled, the fan can use Go-Ahead Entry at any MLB ballpark with the technology. They can also opt out at any time.
The Rays are offering two free tickets for any remaining home game to any adult who opts in during the current homestand, which ends Thursday.
Tropicana Field is the seventh MLB stadium to use Go-Ahead Entry, which debuted last August at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
The system uses biometric technology developed by NEC, but it is proprietary to MLB.
Click here for more information.
