SportTechie (12/28/18) Booton, Jen

Experts predict that 2019 will be the year that mobile ticketing, biometric verification, and other technology-driven trends will hit their stride in the sports industry. The popularity of niche sports is expected to grow as traction for streaming services builds, with the market for such services currently fragmented. These services let fans reduce their reliance on traditional cable, and for this year streaming brands are expected to acquire new digital rights at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, teams and leagues will continue to incorporate sports gambling capability into new and existing apps. Also suggested is the possibility that mobile ticketing could become mandatory for all venues, while fans will be increasingly encouraged to use their biometrics for verification. For example, in 2018 the Clear biometric verification firm secured approval from Washington state to confirm the identities of people looking to buy beer at Seattle Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders games. Since then it has been negotiating with regulators in other states to expand this elsewhere in the country. Also last year, ticketing companies started pairing together the primary and secondary markets to help teams maintain control over prices and attendance data, and teams began adopting a mobile-first ticketing strategy.

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