Wicket ‘facial ticket’ tech ticket to success

Article posted by Coliseum, January 9^th, 2025

Image: Coliseum GSVA

Glenn Borgmann speaks with ease and swears by the facial recognition technology company Wicket’s touchless technology which makes the fans’ venue experience a totally frictionless journey.

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He asserts that the Wicket-powered touchpoints are secure, frictionless and convenient.

In his present role in Wicket, Glenn Borgmann leads a team responsible for expanding Wicket’s business and customer success.

In an interaction with ‘Coliseum’, Glenn Borgmann, EVP, Sales & Customer Success, Wicket, US, maintains that Wicket’s frictionless technology delights the fans, helps keep the venues safe and secure and no-waiting-in-queues is what the guests prefer when they come to the stadia to attend events/games/concerts.

Wicket

Massachusetts (US)-based Wicket is a company specializing in facial recognition technology primarily focused on providing a platform for facial authentication used in live events, sports venues and other credentialed facilities allowing the users to access areas by simply showing their face essentially acting as a ‘facial ticket’ system. It prioritizes privacy within its algorithms and aims to create a seamless user experience.

Glenn Borgmann starts off by stating that “usually when people think of facial recognition they think of law enforcement and surveillance”.

Browns Bowled Over

He narrated that when COVID struck in the year 2020, the National Football League (NFL) team Cleveland Browns deployed Wicket’s facial authentication technology at their home ground – the 67,431-capacity Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio (US). It hit off with the fans in a huge way and most of the team’s season-ticket holders opted in to the facial ticketing program – “The Browns introduced us to Ticketmaster and by the first game of the season the fans were getting into the stadium with their face.”

Added Borgmann, “Wicket’s touchless technology help move lines quicker and also offer frictionless solutions.”

Wicket scripted a success story with the Cleveland Browns – 16 percent of the fans in the Browns games today are getting in with their face – whether that’s the primary ticket holder or the guest.

Falcons Follow Suit

The National Football League (NFL) team Atlanta Falcons sought Wicket’s services in the year 2022. Borgmann described the 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia (US) as “one of the largest, most modern venues in the United States. Though the venue had the best of the best with respect to technology platforms but they were not all integrated together in a meaningful manner. The Falcons wanted to engage those fans when they leave the stadium, to make their journey throughout the stadium more frictionless and more enjoyable. They approached us and we started working with them in 2022. So, 71,000 fans and the challenge was how do we continue to create unforgettable experiences and also helping to integrate the technology platforms that we have that are fan-facing.”

Today, he informed, Wicket’s program has expanded to all gates of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium – “We started just at their premium clubs and quickly expanded to every gate. We had over 50,000 ticketed entries to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.”

Wrap-up

Borgmann averred that “Wicket is doing something very different, we are changing the way that an occasion can be utilized in a stadium – not just for security, not just for surveillance but for fan experiences. No-waiting-in-lines are the kind of experiences that the fans and the guests, people who come to the venues prefer. The paradigm is beginning to change. The fans are beginning to appreciate the benefits of frictionless technology like facial authentication.”

He admitted that Wicket took a beating in the beginning when many teams felt that the facial recognition technology would not go down well with the fans.

The whole intent of Wicket’s program is to help keep the lines moving when it comes to ticketing – “We help improve not only the ingress and the speed and the frictionless part of it but also just creating that premium experience allowing the ticket agent to greet the fan by name as they enter.”

Glenn Borgmann summed up, “Fans are adopting Wicket’s technology and it is consistently rated as the highest gameday technology element with the NFL teams including the Atlanta Falcons and the Cleveland Browns. Credential in the field – you show your face authenticating further to get on the field.”

Wicket is enabling a sensational fan, employee and guest experience and is enhancing security with its biometrics platform. The firm has built a story of triumph by connecting various details together like threads in a woven fabric.

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