Phillies fans enter Citizens Bank Park using MLB's new 'facial authentication' ticket service

PHILADELPHIA - Fans who attended Monday night's Phillies-Giants game at Citizens Banks Park were among the first to use Major League Baseball's new ‘Go-Ahead Entry’ facial authentication technology. 

Fans chose to opt in to the first-of-its-kind service by registering on the MLB Ballpark app using a selfie, that selfie is then turned into a numerical code - or token - tied to the ticketholder's account.

In a press release announcing the pilot program, Major League Baseball says selfies taken by fans are not stored and deleted once a fans token is created.

"When the fan walks through the clearly-marked "Go-Ahead Entry Lane," a facial authentication camera scans the fan's face to match with the enrolled tokens in the system to see if there's a match."

The program was largely a hit with fans who elected to use it on Monday, with many lauding the speed and efficiency of getting through the gate.

"I thought it was great," Mike Cunningham said. "I think when they open up more lines it will really move faster, but I think it's the wave of the future, so I think it's great."

Major League Baseball says "Go-Ahead Entry" will continue to be available to fans at the first base gate of Citizens Bank Park for the remainder of the 2023 regular season.