MLBAM-owned Tickets.com and the A’s recently collaborated on a trial of a new mobile ticketing system that allowed fans to enter Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum using near-field communications (NFC). Tested during the club’s final six-game homestand, the system allowed fans using an iPhone equipped with the new iOS 11 operating system to enter the ballpark through a contactless reader. Tickets.com and the A’s worked with Apple and Illinois-based Infinite Peripherals on the test. The technology is aimed in part at providing a simpler way for fans to enter a venue, while still providing a full array of data and analytics. “This is something I definitely think has a future for us and the ticketing space,” said A's VP/Sales & Service Steve Fanelli. “It was a lot simpler and faster than trying to aim a bar code scanner in just the right angle.” The test only reached several dozen fans per game given the newness of the just-released iOS 11, but Tickets.com execs are preparing for a significant expansion of NFC-based ticketing in ’18 and beyond. “Our job as technologists is to make the event-going experience as fun and frictionless as possible,” said Tickets.com President & CEO Joe Choti. “Right now, this is about access control, but ultimately, we expect NFC technology to be a whole lot more.”
