Roboticket’s smart seat tech help play safe

Article posted by Coliseum, July 10^th, 2020

Image: Roboticket

In the semi-final match played between Lech Poznań – a professional football club based in Poznań, Poland – and Lechia Gdańsk – Polish football club based in Gdańsk, on July 8, 7,750 tickets got sold with 2 meters distance rule. The match was played at Poznań Stadium in Poland. Cloud-based web application Roboticket made it possible.

With the help of Poland-based Roboticket, people living together are allowed to sit together. Roboticket is a robust ticketing system focused on the demanding sports market. It provides many useful features especially important for clubs wanting to create a long lasting relationship with fans.

The system is built upon specific requirements coming from ticketing managers and people doing everyday ticketing job. One can expect lot more from Roboticket than other systems that were developed to sell single tickets for concerts, theater or cinema.

Apply for membership

Roboticket is a cloud-based web application prepared for the future. Using Amazon’s AWS infrastructure, Roboticket is always ready to work and ready to be scaled up to handle a big load. Thanks to geolocation services, fans always get to access their accounts from any location across the globe.

Cloud-based solution spares the entire headache for the club. All one has to do is open an Internet browser and log in. No software installation on local PCs nor server configuration is necessary. Also, no technical special status is needed to be on site. Starting with Roboticket is easy and wallet-friendly too.

Says Michal Pyda, Business Development Executive, Roboticket, “Roboticket goes far beyond single tickets sale. Our company runs on event and IT market since 2009. Beginning with the implementation of access control and ticketing system for Poznan municipal stadium in 2010 (44,000 seat), nowadays, we have sold over 4 000 000 seats all over Poland and Denmark – we are ready for more.”

“Our team have a deep IT knowledge, hiring experienced developers, who are ready to customize our product for you. Our office is led by people having a huge experience in ticketing combined with IT background,” Pyda added.

Earlier, Polish football authorities gave the green light to Roboticket’s smart seat technology which has allowed fans to sit together for the Ekstraklasa games. Ekstraklasa is the top Polish professional league for men’s association football teams.

Roboticket’s smart seat technology allow groups of up to six people who share a household and buy tickets together to sit together in the stands.

The group will be at least three seats and one row from any other supporters thanks to technology developed by Roboticket, on which they have teamed up with four Ekstraklasa clubs, including Lech Poznań.

The smart seat technology will allow more people to attend games, with up to 35 percent of seats able to be filled while still abiding by the two-meter distance incorporated into Polish law following the global COVID-19 outbreak which has brought in huge disaster. While the Polish authorities announced in June that up to 25 per cent of capacity could be filled at stadiums from June 19, it is understood the two-metre law would have restricted this to around 12 percent capacity.

The first use of the technology was applied at Lech Poznań home game against Pogoń Szczecin on June 24 at its 43,000-capacity Poznań Stadium.

Tickets went on sale with seats first available to season ticket holders, then those who attended a game last season, and then public sale. The Roboticket platform allows fans who buy through the public sale to still sit with fellow household members who are season ticket holders.

In a statement released to fans, Lech Poznań said, “Side-by-side selection is possible within one transaction, without the possibility of changing the location later. The ticket system will create the required safety buffer around selected locations with every purchase transaction.”

The Ekstraklasa club said it has been bending over backwards since the announcement was made that fans can return to the stadium fold, to develop such a mechanism which will allow the maximum number of supporters to attend while also keeping a safe distance.

Daniel Zieliński, Lech’s Ticketing Department Manager, said, “The club has prepared new functionalities in the ticket system together with long-time partner Roboticket. Together, we tried to introduce a number of facilities so that fans could feel safe at matches, supporting their loved ones. The dynamically changing situation required quick and reasonable solutions, adapting the ticket system to updated legal acts.”

Pyda informed that it has been using technology it usually uses to ensure fans sit together to keep them apart to abide by the rules laid out by the authorities.

He added, “The ‘orphan seats’ algorithm in our stadium visualization engine really comes in handy right now. Normally, the mechanism helps improve the seat allocation density and prevent seat gaps. Today, we made it to work completely on the opposite side to create gaps in order to maintain the social distance automatically.”

With smart seat technology, comes the million dollar question – how long will social distance rules be binding on stadiums? Is social distancing a factor which people must come to terms with or is it just a temporary arrangement?

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business Center including the ‘Get in touch’ business development support tool and the global ‘new projects’ database.

Watch 250 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue