FSM
Feature
Is The Premier League Scoring An Own Goal When It Comes To Stadium Access?
Time To Say Hola To La Liga
Everyone knows the Premier League is the best league in the world, but not when it comes to stadium access.
Here Marta Morrás, Identity Lead at Veridas, talks about what the Premier League can learn from its Spanish counterparts.
The Premier League is undoubtedly the crown jewel of world football. Its competitiveness, financial prowess, talent pool, and edge-of-the-seat entertainment is unmatched by any other league. Yet, for all its grandeur, the league’s stadium access and fan entrance experience is anything but enjoyable. In an age where technology has revolutionised every facet of our lives, the experience of entering a Premier League stadium feels oddly below par. Long queues and multiple screening processes mean fans often have to wait over an hour before getting to their seats.
This is where La Liga is taking charge and innovating stadium access management using facial biometrics. Some of the major La Liga teams have implemented facial biometric access, where fans can simply walk into the stadium in seconds, without having to queue up and go through long screening processes. This is something the Premier League could learn from their Spanish competitors. Let’s discuss this innovative new approach in detail.
The Premier League's Current Stadium Access System
For many fans, matchday is an unforgettable experience, a ritual. It's the anticipation of the game, the camaraderie with fellow supporters, and the thrill of seeing their footballing heroes in action. However, in England, this experience often begins on a sour note. The current access methods in the Premier League are predominantly reliant on paper tickets and digital QR codes.
Long queues snake around stadiums as fans wait, sometimes in the biting cold or pouring rain, to have their tickets checked or QR codes scanned. Especially for major stadiums like Old Trafford and Anfield, which hosts more than 60,000 fans every matchday, the wait time can be excruciating. The process is not just time-consuming but fraught with many challenges. Lost tickets, malfunctioning QR code scanners, or simply the delay caused by thousands trying to access their digital codes simultaneously can lead to a management crisis. At the start of this season, Arsenal’s opening league match1
at the Emirates Stadium was delayed for
30 minutes, as a problem with the turnstiles left thousands of fans unable to get in on time.
Moreover, in a post-pandemic world, the close proximity in queues raises valid health and safety concerns. So, stadium access management is evidently one of the major areas that the Premier League needs to optimise and innovate. The league's quality on the pitch should also be reflected off the pitch, especially at the turnstiles.
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