Tropicana Field, the home venue of the Tampa Bay Rays, will become the first cash-free sports venue in North America in 2019, according to a press release from the team. The move was announced in partnership with hospitality company Levy and analytics firm E15.
All concession stands, parking, retail stores, ticket offices, and other points-of-sale inside the ballpark will no longer take cash. Instead, accepted forms of payment include all major credit cards, Rays gift cards, NFC mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, and Season Ticket Holder Rays Cards. Fans without electronic forms of payment are not entirely out of luck, as cash inside the stadium can still be exchanged for gift cards in any amount at all Tropicana Field retail locations. Additionally, team vendors will roam the stadium selling gift cards valued at $10 or $20 increments in exchange for cash.
“We have made significant investments each year to improve the ballpark experience for fans, including an overhaul of our approach to food and beverage since the beginning of our partnership with Levy,” said William Walsh, Rays VP of Strategy & Development, in the press release. “This change will increase speed of service and reduce lines throughout the ballpark.”
The transition comes one year after the Rays introduced cash-free parking operations at Tropicana Field. According to the press release, E15 previously conducted pilot testing at Tropicana Field and other venues nationwide to determine the effects of cash-free transactions. Those tests found that cash-free environments cut average purchasing time to half that of those where cash is accepted, resulting in faster moving lines and increased fan satisfaction.
“Throughout our testing last season at Tropicana Field, we saw that fans quickly adapted to cash-free environments and loved the resulting benefits to the game-day experience,” said Jaime Faulkner, CEO of E15. “By offering fans a variety of forms of electronic payment, coupled with the ability to exchange cash for gift cards, we can ensure that fans are having frictionless experiences and getting back to enjoy the game.”
Fan Fest will be the first cash-free event at Tropicana Field on Feb. 9. The Rays open their 2019 season at home against the Houston Astros on Mar. 28.
SportTechie Takeaway
Out of 249.5 million adults in the U.S., about 189 million own at least one credit card, according to CreditCards.com. That means just under 25 percent of American adults who do not own a credit. Fox News also reported in November 2017 that Americans in rural communities are less likely to use credit cards than Americans in urban areas due to rural areas having a higher rate of poor internet connection. Cash may no longer be king due to increasing usage of forms of electronic payment, but a cash-free policy could have the effect of altering the demographics of those who attend Tropicana Field.