Paciolan, the leading ticketing, marketing and fundraising solution provider for college athletics, has announced that fans will be able to use Google Pay to simply “Tap and Go” to enter fall 2019 football games at participating universities. The first schools to offer contactless ticketing with Google Pay will include Baylor, Georgia Tech, LSU, Michigan State, NC State, Ole Miss, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers and Virginia.
“We want to make event ticketing easier for everyone,” said Prakash Hariramani, Director, Google Pay. “With Google Pay, fans will now be able to enter the stadium with just a simple tap of their phone.”
Expanding contactless ticketing functionality to Android devices is the latest advancement in Paciolan’s comprehensive mobile and data strategy. Powered by near-field communication (NFC) technology, contactless ticketing allows fans to quickly enter stadiums with a simple tap of their phones.
The technology also reduces fraud at the gate and gives colleges increased visibility into who is attending their games. Many participating schools will use contactless ticketing to streamline their student ticketing processes this fall.
“Georgia Tech is proud to offer our students the convenience and speed of tap-and-go entry at Bobby Dodd Stadium,” said Jeff Keisler, Georgia Tech’s Associate Athletic Director. “We look forward to working with Paciolan to use the technology to better understand who is in our seats and deliver a more personalized experience.”
To use contactless tickets, Android users will add their tickets to their Google Pay app. Upon arrival at the stadium, they can access the tickets by tapping on a time-based notification or opening the Google Pay app. They will then simply hold their phones near a reader and enter the game.
“We are confident that Purdue students will love entering Ross-Ade Stadium with just a quick tap of their phones,” said Tom Moreland, Associate Athletics Director, Strategic Initiatives at Purdue, “and we are thrilled with the enhanced security and data capability that this technology brings with it.”
Fraud risk is significantly reduced in contactless ticketing through the elimination of PDFs and ultimately barcodes, making screenshots useless. Venues gain visibility into the history of each digital ticket including if it was re-sold on the secondary market or transferred to another user. Anonymous event attendance is reduced, giving schools unprecedented capability to personalize their gameday experience and communicate with fans about future events.
“Contactless ticketing is a huge win for both fans and venues. It removes friction, fights fraud and opens endless doors around data capability,” said Keith White, CTO at Paciolan. “We are committed to keeping our clients at the forefront of the mobile fan experience. Tap-and-go functionality is what fans want right now, and we are happy to enable our clients to deliver it.”
Contactless ticketing works with venues’ handheld scanners and self-serve pedestals. Transferring or gifting tickets to friends and family is easy through the schools’ official athletics websites.
