MLB Ballparks To Feature Contactless Ticketing For Apple Devices

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Major League Baseball and Tickets.com have a solution for those times when you’re rushing to the game just before first pitch — as long as you own an Apple device.

Tickets.com has partnered with technology provider Infinite Peripherals to continue implementing contactless ticketing at more MLB ballparks after a pilot with MLB and the Oakland Athletics.

The contactless system was piloted in September at the Oakland Coliseum, coinciding with the release of iOS 11, which introduced the NFC feature. According to the announcement, after that pilot was successful, the technology was implemented at a performing arts center in Houston. TechCrunch reported the pilot program with the A’s represented the first time the NFC technology was used other than for stored balance (e.g. Starbucks) or rewards cards.

iPhone and Apple Watch users can enter stadiums just by holding their device near the NFC receivers at the gate. Those receivers will use Infinite Peripherals’ Infinea Mobile Point-of-Sale and Bluepad products to scan passes in Apple Wallet.

“Contactless technology is rapidly transforming the way we process various forms of transactions and it’s only fitting that we start to bring this seamless experience to live events,” Jose Vidal, the vice president of Global Sales at Infinite Peripherals, said in a statement. “With our innovative technology in collaboration with Tickets.com, fans, concert goers, and theater lovers will enjoy a fun, frictionless experience with their iPhone and Apple Watch when attending shows.”

The NFC feature is useful in a number of ways, but it stands out for its security. Whereas barcodes and paper tickets can be easily replicated, a mobile wallet pass is much harder to crack, according to the announcement. The Infinea technology is designed to immediately detect and authenticate a ticket in Apple Wallet by communicating with Tickets.com’s proprietary security program. Fans can use a feature that allows their mobile passes to scan without having to unlock their own device.

“Partnering with Infinite Peripherals, Tickets.com was able to develop and deploy an Enterprise access control solution, leveraging its own infrastructure as well as Infinite Peripherals hardware and software teams and expertise,” Derek Argobright, the CTO at Tickets.com, said in a statement.

“The end result was a solution that could securely read and scan digital tickets in a new way, utilizing contactless passes on iPhone and Apple Watch without the traditional form of barcodes. We are really proud of the collaboration and believe that ultimately the solution will create a fun, frictionless experience for every patron.”

With the ubiquity of Apple mobile devices, perhaps stadiums will even open express entrances for the new technology.