The Baltimore Ravens are making a major change to their ticketing at M&T Bank Stadium in 2018, as the team is switching to all digital tickets.
While print-outs will be accepted in select circumstances, the Ravens are emphasizing the use of digital tickets through their app for most gameday attendees this year. Personal seat license holders have been sent a PSL Owner Season Ticket card that will be used to enter M&T Bank Stadium this year. The switch to digital tickets coincides with an ongoing multi-phase renovation to M&T Bank Stadium, and the Ravens have upgraded the facility’s WiFi to better support digital ticketing.
Fans may access tickets via their smartphone by using the Ravens Mobile App. (When using the app, fans can also make a digital transfer of tickets to a guest, or tickets can be sold directly through the app.)
Ravens season ticket holders can use a PSL Owner Season Ticket card – much like a credit card or hotel room key – to enter the stadium. A card has been mailed to every season ticket holder.
“This is another step forward in our mission to enrich the gameday experience and deliver convenience for our fans,” Ravens Senior Vice President of Ticket Sales and Operations Baker Koppelman stated. “Ultimately, this will streamline access to the stadium and make the overall ticketing experience more efficient.”
“We’re paralleling the world, which includes the sports, entertainment and airline industries,” President Dick Cass added. “This is an NFL initiative that all teams must implement by 2019, but we’re excited to move forward this season so our fans have a simple, smart and secure way to use Ravens tickets.”
Below is what the new digital ticketing system and/or card offers:
- More efficient and faster access to enter M&T Bank Stadium with a smartphone or season ticket card.
- Mobile tickets allow fans to quickly and easily send tickets to guests, even minutes before kickoff.
- Mobile tickets provide fans an easier way to list tickets for sale.
- No longer will tickets be lost, stolen or forgotten.
- PSL Owner Season Ticket card is easy to store in a wallet.
- Fans can find complete instructions at BaltimoreRavens.com/DigitalTickets
In order to ensure that the digital ticketing system, and other digital needs, are met, the Ravens have also increased their WiFi network’s capability five times what it was in 2017.
Over the past three seasons, M&T Bank Stadium has hosted a rapid increase in data usage over its WiFi network at Ravens games. During the 2015-17 seasons, capability was 2 gigabits per second (GBPS). In 2018, the stadium will boast a throughput capability of 10 GBPS.
The digital ticketing and WiFi upgrades are just the latest examples of the many steps the Ravens have taken this offseason to improve the gameday experience at M&T Bank Stadium. It’s all part of a three-year, approximately $120 million self-funded investment.
Phase One of the three-year project was completed prior to the 2017 NFL season and was highlighted by two 4K ultra-high definition video displays, which doubled the width of the stadium’s previous standard HD boards and equal the highest resolution and clearest picture of any stadium video display in the United States.
Construction is ongoing for Phases Two and Three of the stadium enhancements project and will continue following the 2018 NFL season. Those improvements include:
Escalators and Elevators: Escalators and elevators to the 500 level will be installed to improve crowd flow and ensure convenience for fans accessing seats in the stadium’s upper level. (The first escalator to the upper concourse is expected to open by October of this season.)
“Corner Notch” Suites & Video Boards: New suites will be built into each open notch of the stadium’s upper bowl. Large 4K ultra-high definition video boards, measuring approximately 33 feet wide and 44 feet high, are being installed atop each of the four suites, providing fans with additional in-game content, NFL highlights/scores, statistics and fantasy information.
Sound System: A new sound system in the seating bowl will be ready for the start of the upcoming season.
Club Level: All concession stands and bar/lounge areas on the stadium’s club level will receive upgrades. These developments will enhance the area’s general design/comfort, audio/visual capabilities, quality of service and food options.
Improved Kitchen Facilities: The stadium is undergoing kitchen renovations to include new equipment, improving the quality of food and providing more options at concessions stands throughout the entire venue.