Sun sets on cash
METRICON Stadium will take the first steps towards becoming a ‘‘cashless venue’’ with an Australian-first trial at the Suns clash with Carlton on Saturday night.
It can be revealed the Gold Coast Suns have joined forces with revolutionary prepaid food and beverage ticketing system PrePlay to allow fans to put credit on to their tickets rather than forking out cash in busy lines.
The bold move, which has worked successfully in the United States and Europe, comes on the back of the stadium being used in a Disney study.
The Suns, who manage Metri- con Stadium, are hopeful the trial could be rolled out more extensively next year in a bid to ease ATM lines and speed up food queues. It may also be used in the merchandise stores and with membership cards
Fans wishing to trial the move can add lines of credit to their tickets via the ticketmaster website this weekend.
Metricon Stadium’s chief operating officer Andrew Travis said the venue needed to continually evolve to remain competitive in a tough market.
‘‘Sport is a competitive market and we are always looking for innovative ways to entice new fans to sample our product here at Metricon Stadium and we feel that with the PrePlay initiative we are providing our customers with a more relaxed game-day experience,’’ he said.
Travis believes the new technology had the chance to reduce the lines.
‘‘With maximising the matchday experience for footy fans attending Metricon Stadium, our teams worked on a concept which would allow fans to spend more time enjoying the stadium precinct activities and on-field action, and the Preplay program has certainly been created with that in mind.’’
Despite struggling to win games the Suns have attracted healthy crowds this season.
Their most recent clash, against a fanless GWS, attracted 14,000 on a cold evening.