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Photos: High-tech at the heart of US sport
Contactless payments, e-ticketing and everybody's gone surfin' in the bleachers...

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Friday 21 April 2006

The innovation begins at the front door. Schlough holds out his ticket which is scanned by a handheld reader. The system, new for this season, replaces wired turnstiles which used integrated barcode readers fitted inside them. The handheld system speeds up entry to the ground and allows for greater scalability as more handheld readers can be used at busy times.

The devices capture as much data as the now obsolete readers in the turnstiles and they allow Schlough to capture data which integrates with his CRM systems.

Fans can also now print off tickets at home, providing greater security and less risk of counterfeiting, theft and lost tickets. Schlough says the Giants also have the capability to send the barcodes to mobile devices, so a fan could present the screen of their PSP, handheld or mobile.

As well an using the web to drive sales – around 80 per cent of non-season ticket sales are made online – the Giants have set up a trading hub enabling fans to trade spare tickets or unwanted season ticket stubs, in the event they can't make all 84 home games.

Schlough said this secondary market is to head off fans going to eBay and while he accepted it may "cannibalise" the primary market, providing the service may make fans think twice about not renewing their season ticket if they know they can get money for the tickets they don't use.

Photo credit: Will Sturgeon