NFL To Test Radio Frequency ID Cards at Super Bowl Meeting

October 25, 2010

The NFL plans to test contactless smart card technology before the Super Bowl in conjunction with the company it uses to manage media credentials for the game. The NFL’s consultant for Super Bowl preparations added production of the event’s credentials to its responsibilities two years ago to produce a hard plastic card using radio frequency identification technology to identify the holder of the credential.

The technology works like this: A computer chip invisible to the naked eye stores personal information and photographic images. A reader picks up the chip’s radio signal and transmits the data to a computer screen, whether it’s a laptop or a handheld unit. The technology is not new in sports. Sports concessionaires have used the technology in individual markets in recent years for fans to pay for food, drink and retail concessions. Radio frequency identification, known as RFID, is more secure than the bar code technology now used for credentials and event tickets. Bar codes can be copied from a printer, and in some cases the codes are stamped on a sticker that can be peeled off an ID card credential causing a breach of security.

The new RFID cards were first tested during the 2010 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention, where card scanners were installed on columns inside the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center to track attendees as they moved to and from the event. NACDA officials plan to expand the test in June at the 2011 conference in Orlando, to more efficiently gauge foot traffic patterns. Ultimately, NACDA could set booth rates tied to RFID data identifying the exhibit hall’s busiest spaces. The reports did not identify individuals, but the data did distinguish between NACDA members and exhibitors.

The NFL’s test is in December, during the league’s final Super Bowl planning meeting for 250 people at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas. There are no plans to implement RFID technology for the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium. Officials see several RFID credentials for sports events as they continue to develop the technology on their end. Using RFID technology in ID card systems for event tickets is one possibility and it if works out for the NFL, there is no doubt it could work for other leagues, teams and events.