For the very first time in the venue’s history, patrons who attended Simonds Stadium for the Round 6 AFL match entered via new and advanced turnstiles.
As part of an ongoing and major refurbishment of Simonds Stadium, the turnstiles have been installed at three entry gates to make it easier and more efficient for patrons to enter the 30,000-plus seat stadium.
While the process for scanning a ticket and walking through a turnstile is completely seamless for a live event fan, there is a huge amount of work that has to go on behind the scenes to ensure a barcode allows a patron to scan in for their desired game.
And that is where Ticketmaster comes in.
Simonds Stadium selected the US-based Alvarado turnstiles to be installed at the venue. It was then up to Ticketmaster to develop an integrated solution that would allow our access control software, AccessManager, to ‘speak to’ the hardware and provide access for patrons scanning at the gates.
As luck would have it, Ticketmaster in the USA had been working closely with Alvarado Turnstiles to develop such integration. The solution was totally transferrable for the local market and, with the assistance of Geelong FC, Simonds Stadium and Geelong Council, Ticketmaster was able to provide the integrated solution for the Round 6 AFL match between the Cats and Gold Coast SUNS.
Alvarado’s Gatelink10 admission software has been integrated with Ticketmaster’s AccessManager software to control venue access via the turnstiles. That is great news for fans attending Simonds Stadium as they can simply scan their ticket or membership card and walk straight through the turnstiles.
The venue benefits too, as the turnstiles offer efficient ingress for attendees and also provide greater security and less reliance on staff members who have previously had to control patron access via hand scanners.
Geelong will play eight home matches at Simonds Stadium in 2016, with seven of the games benefitting from the new turnstile infrastructure and AccessManager integration.
Ticketmaster firmly believes in working closely with partners to ensure all aspects of ticketing and access control are smooth and efficient. The project to integrate the Simonds Stadium turnstiles with Ticketmaster’s bespoke access control solution is proof of this.
Wherever possible, Ticketmaster works hard to stay ahead of the game and at the forefront of our industry when it comes to technology, products, marketing and customer service. Our commitment to our partners and the people who attend live events and venues drives us to improve and provide the best in ticketing at all times.
