Wembley Stadium announces ticketing innovation

Wembley Stadium connected by EE will become the first UK sports and entertainment stadium to offer contactless ticketing for fans.

The innovation offers fans a new way to seamlessly and securely enter live events with contactless tickets added to Apple Wallet on their iPhone or Apple Watch.

Wembley Stadium – maintaining its position as one of the world’s most prestigious sports and entertainment venues – will become the first UK venue to benefit from the technology at this scale.

A select number of customers trialled the technology at England’s recent internationals against Germany and Brazil.  Following its resounding success, contactless ticketing will now be rolled out across the stadium’s entire ticketing platform for the numerous sports and entertainment events in 2018 and onwards.

The integration of contactless tickets in Apple Wallet will simplify customers’ experience while enhancing security and fostering more personalised engagement with fans. As well as entering the stadium with their contactless tickets, fans can use Apple Pay to buy food and beverages with their iPhone or Apple Watch.

The first event scheduled to benefit will be England’s fixture against Italy on Tuesday 27 March, 2018. Customers purchasing tickets from the 12 December, will be able to choose ‘electronic delivery’ where they will be given the option to store the tickets in their Apple Wallet.

Paul Smyth, Head of Ticketing at The FA, said:

We’re delighted that Wembley Stadium is one of the first global venues to work alongside Fortress GB and Apple to bring this technology to fans, and we are committed to providing this technology across our ticketing platform for all events in 2018, onwards. The innovation strengthens our aspiration to be the digital leader in supporter entry, establishing greater one-to-one contact with the consumer and making it easier and safer for all.

Wembley Stadium – which recently celebrated its 10^th anniversary – will continue to work alongside valued stadium partner EE to explore further opportunities to use mobile to enhance the Wembley experience.

Image, courtesy: Alamy

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