If you work in payments, football stadiums probably do not look like your next growth market. A few games a month. A fixed number of fans. Short transaction windows. It feels limited.
But that is where most payment companies are wrong.
Stadiums are one of the most overlooked environments for innovation. And right now, most of them run on outdated, disconnected systems. Manual checkouts. Long queues. No real insight into who is actually buying. It creates a broken payment experience. Not just for fans, but also for providers that could be doing much more.
The Missed Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
Imagine it’s the 38th minute. A fan heads to the concession stand, but by the time they reach the front, they’ve missed a key moment. They’re frustrated. The staff are rushed. The line keeps growing. That fan might think twice about buying again.
Now, scale that across thousands of people every matchday. That’s not just poor fan experience; it’s lost revenue, week after week. The demand is there, and so is the spending power, but the current systems can’t keep up.
Where Cashless Payment Systems Fall Short
Cards and phones are the norm, but both require fans to stop what they’re doing, pull something out, and go through multiple steps. Each step adds friction. Plus, there’s often no link between the person buying and their ticket, meaning payment data and fan data live separately. This makes it impossible to personalize offers, build loyalty, or truly understand your best customers. If you can’t connect transactions to identities, you’re leaving insights and money on the table.
What Biometric Payments Unlock
Now, picture this: a fast lane where no phone, card, or cash is needed. The fan walks up, a quick face or palm scan confirms their identity, and payment is processed in seconds. The result? Less friction, smoother flow, and fewer abandoned purchases.
That’s precisely what biometric payments unlock. This technology links each payment to a verified fan profile. You get faster checkouts, no need for a wallet, and valuable data revealing who is buying, when, and how often. It removes the guesswork from fan transactions and turns matchday payments into a real-time source of insight.
You’re already seeing this in action. Amazon One and Just Walk Out technology are live in US stadiums, allowing fans to grab items and pay with just a palm scan. This leads to shorter queues and a better fan experience.
So, how does this work?
From Fan to Seamless Stadium System
Biometric payments are based on a simple idea: link a fan’s face or palm to a payment method once, then let them use it throughout the stadium. Here’s the breakdown for the fan:
- Registration: They register online or at the stadium with a face or palm scan. (Just to clarify, it’s usually showing the palm to a camera, except for the Amazon system which involves placing the palm).
- Payment Linking: They link their biometric data securely to their payment cards (Visa, Mastercard, etc.).
- Effortless Payment: At any concession or self-checkout, they simply look at the scanner or show their palm.
- Instant Processing: Payment is processed instantly, securely, and without extra steps.
For you and stadium operators, there’s often no need to replace existing terminals. Our tech can integrate with current POS systems. Enrollment can be supported through ticketing platforms, club apps, or in-person booths. Once enrolled, the fan can use biometric payments at every home match and potentially across multiple venues.
Why This Matters to Cashless Payment Companies and Clubs
For cashless payment companies, biometric payments don’t replace you; they enhance the fan experience while still routing transactions through your existing infrastructure. The key advantages are speed, data, and loyalty.
- Speed: Biometric checkouts can be up to 50% faster than card or phone payments, leading to increased throughput and potentially facilitating faster age verification for relevant purchases.
- Higher Conversion: Fans are less likely to abandon purchases due to shorter queues.
- Better Data: Payments are linked to fan identities, opening doors for personalized offers, real-time rewards, and a deeper understanding of your customer base.
For clubs, this translates to more sales in shorter timeframes, potentially reduced staffing needs (especially with autonomous F&B options), and valuable insights into fan purchasing habits, leading to better segmentation and sponsor activations. Ultimately, it delivers a better experience for the fans.
Biometric Payments are Happening Now
In the United States, Coors Field recently became the first sports venue to use Amazon One for both age verification and payment. Fans buying alcohol simply hover their palm, and the system checks their ID and completes the purchase. The line moves faster. The experience improves. And the tech does all the heavy lifting.
Meanwhile in Brazil, Mastercard rolled out biometric facial payments in São Paulo. Fans pay by simply showing their face to a camera. It is fast, secure, and surprisingly popular. According to Mastercard, over 70 percent of users say they would prefer biometrics over cards for future payments.
Clubs are also stepping in. The New York Mets now use facial recognition for stadium access. Their goal is to extend it to concessions and in-seat orders. In Brazil, the Beira-Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre implemented full biometric access control for fans. That makes it one of the most advanced use cases worldwide.
Let’s Deliver Biometric Payments to Clubs together
At TruCrowd, we build the infrastructure that connects fans to payment systems through their identity, without requiring new payment terminals. We partner with clubs, POS providers, and cashless payment companies to seamlessly integrate biometric payments into existing environments, offering:
- Easy fan onboarding, often through ticket purchases.
- Direct integration into the venue’s current checkout processes.
If you’re in payments or stadium tech, now is the time to lead. This is about more than just processing transactions; it’s about shaping the future of the fan experience. Biometric payments are here, offering security, privacy, and proven results. The question is, who will take the first step on a larger scale?
Let’s connect and explore the possibilities. TruCrowd can help you roll this out, step by step. Stadiums don’t need more payment options; they need better ones.
