SportTechie (06/06/19) Booton, Jen

Ticketmaster has announced an expansion of its new SafeTix encrypted ticketing service to Major League Soccer via Los Angeles FC, following the National Football League (NFL)-wide rollout. SafeTix lets Ticketmaster produce tickets with barcodes that change every 15 seconds, to guarantee that fans are holding legitimate, unclonable tickets. The four-times-per-minute refresh enables the NFL to prevent tickets from being captured via screenshot and shared through unauthorized channels. Fans also can enter a stadium seamlessly with simple "tap and go" of their smartphones, using the same near-field communications technology that drives Apple Pay. Ticketmaster announced earlier that SafeTix will be used across NFL venues for the 2019 season. Beyond fraud deterrence, Ticketmaster was motivated to implement this solution so operators can learn exactly who is entering stadiums on game days. "[SafeTix] closes the loop of identity," said Ticketmaster's Justin Burleigh. "You can still sell it, but now you have to transfer that from one human being to another human being. When that happens, you pick up fidelity of identity. And once that happens, you can do some really interesting things from an operational perspective."

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