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The University of Florida will become the first university in the United States to utilize facial recognition technology for entry into football games.
“The Express Entry system, developed by Wicket, enables fans to use their facial biometrics in place of traditional tickets or mobile devices for stadium access, similar to systems previously implemented at venues like American Family Field,” Mobile ID World reports.
Game Day Just Got Creepy: Florida Stadium Swaps Tickets for Faceshttps://t.co/D3PZnhAqC8
— Reclaim The Net (@ReclaimTheNetHQ) August 15, 2025
WCJB noted:
The facial recognition tech will be used at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and other UF venues, with the goal of reducing wait times.
“The Swamp” will be the first stadium in the nation using the system.
Fans will have to register online before, and officials say the rest of the process is easy.
“Completely free to sign up. It’s open to any fan. It’s as simple as taking a selfie, it really is,” says UF Associate Athletic Director Mike Castle. “When you arrive to the stadium, there’s express entry lanes, designated only for express entry so you get to bypass the lines, go straight through the stadium.”
“Gator fans will be the first in the nation to use facial recognition to attend college games,” 10 Tampa Bay wrote.
More from Mobile ID World:
The implementation represents a significant advancement in venue access technology within collegiate athletics, building on the growing adoption of biometric authentication in sports and entertainment venues worldwide. Enrollment in the system remains voluntary, with fans having the option to continue using traditional ticketing methods. The University of Florida emphasizes that the system was designed to enhance the game-day experience by enabling more efficient stadium entry.
The facial authentication technology, provided by venue access solutions company Wicket, operates by securely linking biometric data to ticketing accounts. The implementation follows industry best practices for secure biometric data handling and privacy protection, similar to those used in other large-scale biometric deployments. “We implemented the system to enhance the game-day experience, enabling quicker and safer entry for fans,” noted University representatives.
The deployment marks the first implementation of facial authentication for stadium entry in collegiate sports, positioning the University of Florida as an early adopter of biometric access control technology in athletic venues. The innovation follows a broader trend of educational institutions exploring advanced authentication methods, as seen in recent university partnerships for biometric digital ID systems.