You won’t need to go to an ATM on the way to Stamford High football games this season, but you will need your phone.
It was announced this week that all ticket sales for Black Knights home football games will now be cashless, as Stamford joins a growing list of schools across Connecticut to do so.
Like many schools, Stamford started using a cashless ticket system for home basketball games last winter and it worked well enough that the school decided to do it for football games as well.
“We used this for basketball and it worked really well,” Stamford athletic director Chris Passamano said. “Most of the FCIAC is already doing this, any FCIAC or CIAC playoff game is cashless. You can’t go to a concert, college, or professional sporting event without using your phone. It is how it is done now and how it will be done in the future.”
Using an app called Ticket Spicket, Stamford fans can scan QR codes on their phones at the gate or purchase tickets in advance, either on their phones or computers, and present them at the gate.
Most schools in the FCIAC now have cashless options with Stamford, St. Joseph, Westhill, Danbury, Norwalk, Staples, Trumbull, McMahon, and Wilton using Ticket Spicket. Ridgefield, Darien and New Canaan are using GoFan, the ticketing point used by the CIAC for tournament games.
Greenwich, Ludlowe, Warde and Bridgeport Central remain cash gateways.
In the SWC, almost all schools use GoFan and it is likely that some others will use it soon. SWC schools will continue to accept cash, but encourage fans not to use cash.
“Nearly every SWC school is using GoFan as their online option to purchase tickets,” said SWC Commissioner and Weston Athletic Director Mark Berkowitz. “Online, Kolbe and New Milford aren’t committed to that yet, but the other 12 schools still allow cash, but also accept and encourage online ticketing through GoFan. New Milford and Kolbe are in talks to bring GoFan as an option, but they don’t have approval to do so yet.”
SCC Commissioner Al Carbone said some SCC schools, such as West Haven, Xavier and Hand, have cashless options but also accept cash.
At ECC, Ledyard, Waterford, Fitch, St. Bernard, East Lyme and Lyman Memorial use GoFan and Bacon Academy is exploring going cashless, according to ECC Commissioner Jim Buonocore.
The concession stand at Boyle Stadium will continue to accept cash, although some school concession stands have begun accepting Venmo and other forms of online payment.
Passamano, who has two teenage sons, said high school kids rarely have cash and use Apple Pay or Google Pay for most transactions.
“It is the world. My kids don’t have debit cards, all they do is Apple Pay,” Passamano said. “The QR code will be in various locations, people will scan it, click on Apple Pay and walk in. It will make getting into games a lot easier and with a lot fewer lines.”
With nine FCIAC schools currently using Ticket Spicket, Stamford fans can use the same app for their road games at Danbury and Trumbull that they use for home games.
Stamford’s first home game will be at Boyle Stadium on Saturday September 24 at 1pm against Manchester.
Stamford will host five home games this season, every Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
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