Scanning tickets with barcodes might soon be a thing of the past. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Sports fans with iPhones have long been scanning their tickets at the turnstile with Apple Wallet’s Passbook feature. Now Android users will be able to do the same.
Google Pay, the Android maker’s version of the same mobile wallet feature, will accept event tickets and airline boarding passes. Google has reportedly already formed a partnership with Eventbrite to introduce the feature. Companies will also have the option to add the Google Pay API to their apps.
Once a pass is in Google Pay, it will update automatically and push notifications alerting ticket holders to changes in venue, time, and if there’s a cancellation. For sports, this would mean a Google Pay user going to a baseball game would be automatically notified by the home team if the game’s start time has been delayed or the game is postponed.
Google Pay will also, like Apple Pay, work through NFC, allowing the phone to communicate with ticket scanners without physically touching a sensor. Customers will be able to hold their phones near a sensor to scan the ticket. This is considered a more secure technique than QR codes or other bar code-like means of ticket authentication.
SportTechie Takeaway
Google Pay is a bit behind the game here, but it is nonetheless incorporating the same features that made Apple Pay and other mobile wallet apps successful. Mobile ticketing is clearly on the rise. Experience CEO Greg Foster predicted to SportTechie last year that in a decade, 50 percent of fans will use their phones to gain entry to live events. The Kansas City Chiefs are adopting mobile-only ticketing this upcoming season.
Still, Apple Pay remains the leader in this area. Apple reinforced its prevalence in January by striking a deal with MLB to allow fans contactless entry into ballparks around the league.
