The Wicket facial authentication platform is a privacy-first solution that enables sensational event experiences for fans, guests, and employees with frictionless touchpoints that delight users and strengthen security for sports and credentialed venues.
In the summer of 2020, as stadiums were looking for ways to reopen in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic safely, the Cleveland Browns were looking for a way to get fans back into the stadium while respecting all COVID-19 mandates, including fans wearing face masks, social distancing, and limited physical contact. Wicket co-founders Ryan Owen, Sanjay Manandhar, and Kent Heyman along with a team that had already developed advanced facial recognition technology, worked with the Browns to test and deploy a facial ticketing solution that allowed fans to just walk up, have their face authenticated (even with a face mask on), and walk into the stadium in less than a second—no showing or sharing mobile bar codes, removing face masks, or congregating in long ticketing lines.
3 years later, the Browns have now seen more than 50% of their season ticket holders enroll in the program, have been able to reduce ticketing lanes by 75%, and clear gates 10 minutes faster, all while saving $8,000 per Wicket ticketing lane. The Browns have expanded the use of Wicket facial authentication across the stadium and their practice facilities, eliminating the need for physical credentials for access to secure areas of the stadium, improving the suite and club entry experience, and streamlining concessions purchases with facial payments.
Wicket has taken this platform to numerous additional sporting facilities, corporate offices, and other ticketed events, becoming the leader in facial authentication solutions that delight fans, guests, and employees while strengthening security for live events and facilities.
Wickets are small, narrow doors within a larger castle or city gate, used to avoid the risk of opening the main gates for just one or two individuals. Because of the wicket's small size, it only allowed entry one person at a time and enabled the guards to control access better.
The Wicket leadership team has decades of combined experience launching and scaling technology companies in multiple industries and navigating them through evolving markets and trends.Â
We value honesty and doing the right thing for our employees, customers, and end users.
All communications and decisions at Wicket are made with consideration for others.
We hold ourselves accountable and build each other up when we make mistakes.
We trust in and communicate openly with team members, customers, and other vendors.
We want Wicket to succeed—employees are driven, adaptable, and get their hands dirty.
