Tropicana Field in St Petersburg Florida is the first major North American sports venue to go completely cash-free Photo by Julio Aguilar Getty Images Getty Cash isnt king at Tropicana Field marking the first time a major North American sports venue has gone completely cash-free for all transactions Tropicana Field the St Petersburg home of Major League Baseballs Tampa Bay Rays worked with hospitality partner Levy and the Chicago-based companys analytic-focused E15 group to transition the stadium to a cash-free environment Getting there though wasnt just a flip of the switch The Tampa Bay Rays Levy and E15 knew it was important to take a very intentional and thoughtful approach to introducing cash-free including conducting extensive testing and pilot programs to gauge guest reactions and measure the benefits to speed of service says Jaime Faulkner CEO of E15 Based on other cash-free pilots we had done we were optimistic about the benefits adopting cash-free would bring to our guests in terms of speed of service and fan satisfaction but the reaction from our guests exceeded our loftiest expectations With over 90 percent of guests responding favorably to the cash-free pilots in 2018 Faulkner knew her team had an ideal starting point at Tropicana Field For the 2019 baseball season the stadiums concessions team stores box office parking operations and all other points-of-sale will operate cash-free which following pilot testing in 2018 show an average transaction time reduction of up to half that of traditional environments that accept cash The highest-volume stand at Tropicana for example moved from an average wait time of seven minutes down to two minutes during the pilot testing In lieu of cash the ballpark will take all major credit cards Rays gift cards NFC mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay and Season Ticket Holder Rays Cards For fans without electronic forms of payment cash can still be exchanged for gift cards in 10 increments at retail locations or via roaming gift card vendors Its certainly likely we will need the gift card exchange option less over time as fans adopt the technology Faulkner says but we are committed to keeping it as long as our guests find it valuable The variety of forms of payment plus the option to exchange cash for gift cards for those who werent prepared for the shift puts a focus on creating a frictionless experience and reducing lines We have made significant investments each year to improve the ballpark experience for fans including an overhaul of our approach to food and beverage since the beginning of our partnership with Levy says William Walsh vice president of strategy and development for the Rays This change will increase speed of service and reduce lines throughout the ballpark Stadiums have experimented with cashless environments for a few years now whether dedicated lines for those paying electronically or a mix as we saw at this years Super Bowl in Atlantas Mercedes-Benz Stadium of some stands not accepting cash in an effort to keep lines moving Mercedes-Benz Stadium among others has also ensured that all concession pricing remains at round dollar amounts to limit the amount of time it takes to make change if cash remains an option But nobody has gone fully cash-less to the level the Rays have for the 2019 season kicking off with a Fan Fest event in February and then the teams first regular-season home game against Houston on March 28 While the Rays mark the first Levys E15 division doesnt expect this will be the last full switch in the sports world Tropicana Field is clearly at the vanguard of a movement toward greater adoption of cash-free technology Faulkner says E15 is working with several of our partners to explore bringing cash-free to more venues in the future