Wasp Barcode Technologies: The Barcode Solution People

NFL Team Uses Barcodes to Deliver Concessions to Fans

Close your eyes and imagine—no, wait, you’re reading. Just imagine that you are at a stadium watching your favorite team play their most hated foe. Now imagine that your significant other or darling child decides they want a hot dog or a cold beverage. You get up and leave your seat to wait in line, and then it happens, almost as if the sports gods had it out for you. A pivotal game-changing play occurs and you missed it. If you are anything like me, trying to imagine this probably is not that difficult. In fact, you can probably think of a time that this has actually happened to you. Well, the Jacksonville Jaguars and a Vancouver-based marketing and mobile payment company have come up with a solution that allows fans to stay in their seats. Mobio Identity Systems Inc., the company behind the application, is testing a new smartphone technology at EverBank Field that allows Jaguar fans to use their smart phones to order and pay for food and drinks which are then delivered right to their seats. The company did a test launch on over 2000 seats at the September 26 home game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles, and plans to expand to more seats for testing throughout the season. The company plans on implementing the technology in the future throughout the NFL as well as to other professional sports. So exactly how does this work? Fans download the Mobio App before the game to their smartphone and use the phone’s built-in camera, which acts like a barcode scanner, to take a photo of the barcode that is assigned to the fan’s specific seat. A menu is then shown on the phone’s display listing all the concessions the stadium has to offer. A few minutes of scrolling and clicking and users can order beer, nachos, hot dogs or anything else on the menu and have it delivered by a food runner. The Mobio App can be downloaded for free from www.facebook.com/mobioid, and there is no extra charge added to the bill for ordering this way. The average turnaround time for you order? Eight minutes, according to Mobio Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Binns. Eight minutes waiting in your seat watching your favorite team live sure beats 20 minutes of standing in a concession line. Now if they could only figure out a way to solve the restroom issue, oh, and lower ticket prices would be nice. One can only dream, but hey, 10 years ago, did you think you would be ordering food from your cell phone?