Following Atlanta United FC‘s home opener on Sunday, Mercedes-Benz Stadium officials reported a successful roll out of the facility’s new cashless transaction model.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Mercedes-Benz Stadium would debut cashless transactions within its gates beginning with United’s March 10 home opener. Under the new system, all transactions made inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s gates during games for both United and the NFL’s Falcons will be made through credit cards, debit cards, or mobile payment services. To accommodate fans that do not carry one of those forms of payment, the stadium will offer kiosks where cash can be loaded onto prepaid Visa debit cards.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s cashless transaction system was in place on Sunday, and it was a success in the eyes of stadium officials. Transactions reportedly took place smoothly, and only a very small number of fans used the cash-to-card kiosks. More from the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Although Atlanta United’s first home match of 2019 didn’t go quite as planned, there were no hiccups in Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s shift to a cash-free model, according to a stadium spokesperson….
AMBSE Spokesperson Heather Sautter told Atlanta Business Chronicle that the shift to card and mobile-only payments “went very smoothly,” and that officials “are pleased with the progress.” She said the number of transactions prior to and during the match were in direct line with average numbers from last season. Sauter added that the cash-to-card kiosks were utilized by less than one percent of the 70,000-plus attendees.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium is not the only major United States sports facility shifting to cashless transactions, as MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays announced that their home ballpark–Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg–will become a cash-free sports venue beginning with the 2019 season. Still, Atlanta could provide an interesting case study, especially with a system in place for both MLS and NFL games. United matches typically draws crowds in high numbers, a trend continuing into the initial part of this season with Sunday’s reported attendance of 70,382 fans, and the club’s home schedule should give stadium officials plenty of time to see the new system play out before the Falcons return for games later this year.
Image courtesy Mercedes-Benz Stadium.