The Tennessee Titans' 2023 season concluded with a disappointing 6-11 record, missing the playoffs. Sure, they managed to end the past season by defeating their division rivals (the Jacksonville Jaguars), but crucial losses throughout the season ultimately dashed their postseason hopes.
In line with the team not meeting their ultimate expectations, Titans fans also felt the fan experience didn’t live up to theirs. Nissan Stadium is not the most modern in the NFL. With more than 70,000 fans flooding the stadium on game day, bottlenecks at entry gates caused long wait times, large crowds and frustrated fans.
The Titans knew they needed to make a change.
Adam Nuse, Chief Revenue Officer for the Tennessee Titans, acknowledged that three years ago the Titans were one of the league's worst for fan ingress, causing a negative impact on game day. A multi-billion dollar new stadium planned for 2027 would help resolve these entry problems, but the team's owners didn't want to wait. They wanted to act quickly to fix the problem and give their fans the experience they deserved.
To do that, the Titans teamed up with Verizon and embraced next-generation biometric solutions powered by Verizon's 5G Edge Accelerated Access. The result? The stadium installed eight Express Entry gates.
For fans who opt in — participation is entirely voluntary — facial recognition technology authenticates guests in near real time to help reduce wait times. Now, a participating fan's face is their ticket for fast and contactless access into the stadium.
The ticketing solution means no more fumbling for tickets or scanning QR codes. On game day, users who already submitted a selfie during opt-in enter the stadium via one of the dedicated Express Entry camera lanes. A neat feature of this solution is that a single person can authenticate up to 12 guests, so a whole party can enter in one go. Express Entry also enhances security measures by combating fraudulent tickets.
The investment is paying off, too. The Tennessee Titans and Nissan Stadium went from one of the worst stadiums for entry to one of the most efficient and enjoyable stadium entry solutions in the league.
The Titans report that wait times lowered dramatically, and fans are given more time inside to enjoy the venue.
"We analyzed how we could get fans inside the stadium quickly and efficiently, and a lot of that starts and stops with ease of entry and speed of access," said Sam Apple, Director of Stadium Experience for the Tennessee Titans. "We live in a fast-paced world where everyone's trying to do things without delay. At Nissan Stadium, our visitors want to get inside so they can see the players warming up on the field or get to their favorite concession stand."
Recognizing the possibilities of Verizon's 5G and 5G Edge Accelerated Access, the Titans plan to deploy the scalable technology at their advanced New Nissan Stadium. This high-speed, fully connected stadium will deliver a new era of fan experience with features such as immersive augmented reality, digital activations and concessions with no cashiers.
"We're building a $2.1 billion stadium. We'd love a lineless experience and I think Verizon can help get us there," Nuse said. "I'm hopeful and optimistic that we can be the first."
Edited by
Alex Passett
