Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Professional Sports League To Rollout Facial Authentication At All Stadiums This Season

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The National Football League (NFL) will expand the use of facial authentication to every stadium this season.

“Big news for Wicket as the NFL expands the use of our technology league-wide this season!” Wicket Chief Operating Officer Jeff Boehm announced.

“After a pilot last season, all 32 teams (starting with the New England Patriots!) will be using Wicket to streamline and secure the credentialing program. This will 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,” Boehm said.

The NFL conducted a six-team trial last season and is ready to make biometric ID verification league-wide.

“Credential holders simply take a selfie before they come, and then Wicket verifies their identity and checks their credentials with Accredit (a credentialing platform) as they walk through security checkpoints,” Boehm said.

“If last year’s Express Entry facial authentication pilot at select NFL venues was a field goal for Wicket, the biometrics provider has now scored a touchdown, as the league prepares to roll out Wicket’s face biometrics system for digital credentialing across all 30 NFL stadiums, starting with preseason games on August 8,” Biometric Update wrote.

Biometric Update reports:

The selfie-based face biometrics system runs in tandem with accreditation software from Accredit Solutions, which checks credentials at security checkpoints for complete identity access management (IAM). Users with registered credential badges can have them scanned and compared against a real-time selfie taken at the security checkpoint, triggering a green signal for go, or a red signal prohibiting access. It also includes a phone-based system that is available to navigate possible glitches.

An update from StadiumTechReport notes some uncertainty about how the Wicket system will operate internally at stadiums. “Early versions of Wicket systems have simply used Apple iPads mounted on poles to provide a place for facial recognition via the iPad cameras,” says the update. “Recently, entry technology companies including Axess have been busy integrating Wicket software into their entry hardware, so it’s possible that teams could end up using that method to host the Wicket system.”

For the league, the system brings additional security and protection against fake credentials, which Andrea Schultz, the NFL’s director of strategic security programs, says are a growing problem. The explosion in online sports betting apps has contributed to the problem, as officials try and stamp out efforts to cheat – or steal money in order to cover gambling debts.

From Stadium Tech Report:

After a trial last year at several NFL venues, including Cleveland Browns Stadium, the league will implement a Wicket-based system at all 30 league venues for all 32 teams, starting with this summer’s first preseason games. According to a LinkedIn post from Jeff Boehm, Wicket’s chief operating officer, “this [system] will 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.”

According to a report in Sports Business Journal, the NFL is looking to the Wicket system to help prevent fraudulent use of physical credentials, and to improve the veracity of credential authorization. By tying credentials to a holder’s face, the league hopes to eliminate the sometimes-faulty human credential verification process.

Wicket’s facial authentication software systems are gaining rapid acceptance in sports venues, primarily for fan ticket authentication purposes; the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Mets are all early adopters of using Wicket to help speed up fan entry. The Browns and their caterer Aramark are also using the technology for concessions purchases.


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