Dallas Cowboys Will Use Facial Recognition To Verify Employee Identities

CORRECTION, 5:35 p.m. Aug. 6: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that the NFL will be using facial recognition technology to check the identities of fans entering stadiums during the 2024–25 season. In fact, the NFL announced that it would use the technology to verify only the identities of credentialed personnel such as "team/gameday personnel, vendors and media." The story has been corrected. We regret the error.

It’s just a month away from the Cowboys’ season kickoff, and the team is rolling out some new technology. This year, the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL will use facial recognition software to identify credential holders who enter a stadium for a game.

The league took a test drive with facial authentication technology last year through the use of “Express Entry” at several NFL stadiums. The system, launched by Verizon and software startup Wicket, allowed employees and those with other credentials to pre-enroll their facial scans into a database that allows them to enter stadiums in conjunction with walkthrough security scanners at a walking pace.

The trial run seems to have scored big, as Wicket COO Jeff Boehm announced the program’s league-wide expansion for the 2024 season. In a LinkedIn post, Boehm said Wicket’s facial authentication software will “streamline and secure the credentialing program” and “ensure that properly credentialed media, officials, staff and guests can easily and safely access restricted areas, including the playing field, press box or locker rooms.”

The selfie-based biometrics system runs alongside Accredit Solutions’ accreditation software, which checks credentials at security checkpoints throughout the stadiums. Those who have registered credential badges can have a real-time selfie compared to a user-submitted photo that is already in the system’s files at a checkpoint.

Earlier versions of the Wicket system used iPads mounted on poles to run the facial recognition cameras. However, a report from StadiumTechReport said “entry technology companies including Axess have been busy integrating Wicket software into their entry hardware,” so it is still unknown exactly what the facial recognition checkpoints will look like at AT&T and other NFL stadiums.

One of the main purposes for the system is to provide accountability, according to a Sports Business Journal interview with Billy Langenstein, senior director of security services for the NFL.

“[The league and the teams] know every single person who is being credentialed to work an NFL game, who they are and the access levels they should have to do their job,” Langenstein said to SBJ. “And a big part of it is accountability for those individuals, embracing it, learning it and evaluating the safety and security of the program.”

The league-wide system will go live during the first week of the NFL preseason, which begins at the Patriots' and Giants' home games on Aug. 8. Previous NFL stadium uses of Wicket, whose ownership group includes part-owners of the Cleveland Browns, includes express biometrics purchases for beer at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The software has also been used for facial recognition for ticketing at this year’s Australia Open and to secure Olympians’ access to the OLY House during their time in Paris.