Global Live Events Industry Focuses on Biometrics in 2025

Biometrics are increasingly being adopted for use at sports and other live events.

The technology is being used to enhance ticketing, credentialing, and sales of concessions, merchandise and alcohol, BiometricUpdate.com reported Tuesday (Dec. 31).

The report cited examples of solutions being deployed by companies and leagues in the United States, Europe and Latin America.

Among the firms offering biometric solutions for live events are Wicket, Veridas, Clear and NEC, according to the report.

In addition, almost half of venues in the global live events industry consider biometrics a top initiative for 2025, the report said.

Recent deployments include a face biometrics solution at the 85,000-capacity Mâs Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a biometric identity verification solution at a Betplay League final at the Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellín, Colombia, per the report.

One biometric ticketing system, the MLB’s Go-Ahead Entry, can reduce wait times when entering the stadium by as much as 68%, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Novel ID Verification Technologies in Stadiums Can Change the Game Beyond Sports.”

Go-Ahead Entry, which links facial recognition with ticket accounts to make the process touchless, quick and secure, is just one example of how digital identity verification and blockchain-based ticketing are helping stadium operators enhance the fan experience, the report found.

At the same time, these solutions often face privacy concerns from fans worried about data misuse and surveillance. These concerns can be mitigated by stadiums employing solutions like barcode scanning, working within regulatory limits, and balancing inclusivity and reliability, per the report.

Biometrics are being deployed in other sectors as well.

Mastercard said in November that it plans to phase out the need to enter card numbers, static passwords and one-time codes when making online purchases by replacing this process with a new one enabled by a combination of tokenization and biometric authentication. The company plans to make this change globally by 2030.

In September, Visa and Tencent partnered to launch a pay-by-palm solution, first in Singapore and then in other markets. With a one-time enrollment, a Visa payment token will be bound to the biometric template of each participant’s palm, allowing them to make future payments just by waving their palm.

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