Evolv Express was used to secure the NBA Crossover event at the Indiana Convention Center last weekend during the NBA All-Star festivities in Indianapolis. The NBA is proving to be the last major league/sport hurdle for Evolv, owing in part to NBA arenas' courtside seating, which puts fans closer to players than any other league and thus elicits more caution from the league. But the NBA is now essentially willing to hear proposals from its teams about incorporating Evolv Express into their venues’ security layer.
“Everything that we do, we take a very collaborative approach. Every league has different protocols,” said Evolv VP/Sports John Baier. "We worked very closely with the league on what process they wanted, and we also work very closely with the teams when they’re going through their process of getting it approved by the league. We wanted to make sure we went on the NBA’s timeline and what they were comfortable with, and that it was right across the board and that nobody rushes anything."
Evolv has seen a 566% increase in new sports venue and team customers in the last two years and is playing a central role in MLB’s Go-Ahead Entry biometrics trial, which started last year at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and is expanding this year to the Astros and Minute Maid Park. NFL (11 venues) is Evolv’s biggest source of venue clients so far, but MLB (10) and MLS (7) aren’t far behind. Increasingly, the NBA is part of that, too. By mid-March, Evolv will be working with eight NBA venues, mostly through NHL tenant team deals, like the most recently deployed TD Garden, home to the Celtics and Bruins.
It’s unwavering momentum for Evolv, which recently inked a deal with ASM Global to become the venue management company’s preferred frictionless security screening provider. Evolv is focusing on smaller-sized venues, too, not just NFL stadiums, and ASM Global’s varied roster of venues -- more than 350 globally of all sizes and geographies -- will be useful in growing that client base.
“Being able to work with an ASM to innovate and develop new products together in different settings, different size venues, different market, I think that’s something that’s going to be very beneficial to us both and the market, as we roll out new offerings,” Baier said.
Evolv is looking to move forward with a much more digital mindset, Baier said, a shift away from a hardware-based business to a digital-based one that will be spearheaded by Chief Digital Product Officer Parag Vaish, who was hired by the company last year from Tesla. Another next frontier is the expansion of sports venue perimeters, especially those surrounded by mixed-use development. Those types of settings may work for unmanned Evolv detection systems that are monitored remotely as opposed to Evolv Express units, which are deployed with an accompanying attendant. The expanded perimeter can increase security but also alleviate lines when screening isn’t pressed right up against sports venue entrances and ticketing and ingress lines.
