Phillies news and rumors 8/18: Citizens Bank Park to implement new ‘Go-Ahead Entry’

Citizens Bank Park has been home to the Phillies since 2004. (Bern Carey)

The Philadelphia Phillies will finish their current road trip with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals this weekend. They’ll then return to South Philly this Monday, Aug. 21 to begin a nine-game homestand, consisting of games against the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels.

Starting Monday, fans will be able to enter Citizens Bank Park in a brand-new way with Major League Baseball’s Go-Ahead Entry, “a fast, easy, hands-free way to enter the ballpark,” according to the Phillies.

In order to sign up for Go-Ahead Entry, fans will need to register through the MLB Ballpark app and be 18 years of age or older. Registering includes scanning your face on the app. This is because the Go-Ahead Entry lane, which will be located at the First Base Gate, will have facial recognition technology setup that will be how fans enter the park. Fans who use the lane will not have to show or manually scan their tickets for entry into Citizens Bank Park.

All tickets on a fan’s Ballpark account signed up for Go-Ahead Entry will be eligible to enter the stadium via the Go-Ahead Entry lane. For example, if you’re registered for Go-Ahead Entry and have four tickets for a game on your MLB Ballpark app, you and three other people will be able to enter Citizens Bank Park via the new entry lane together.

The cameras at the lane will scan your face and recognize that your Ballpark account is enrolled for such entry and all four tickets will be “scanned” that way. The cameras will also scan the faces of the people entering along with you.

While the registered fan for Go-Ahead Entry must be 18 years of age or older, other parties entering with that fan do not have to meet that age requirement.

MLB says this new procedure, which uses facial recognition, is secure to use by stating, “The security, integrity, and confidentiality of your information are extremely important to us. We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures designed to protect fan information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use, and modification that follow or exceed industry standards for security.”

This new technology is completely voluntary and will not be mandated to enter Citizens Bank Park. Fans will still be able to enter through the normal ticket scanning lanes. However, Go-Ahead Entry will only be located at the First Base Gate.

MLB has not used this entry type before. Citizens Bank Park will be the first and only ballpark this season to use it. There are plans to expand this new technology to other ballparks as soon as next season, though. The Phillies also plan on implementing more Go-Ahead Entry lanes at other gates next season.

For more information on Go-Ahead Entry, you can go on the MLB Ballpark app or visit the official Phillies website.

Must-Read (Or Watch) Phillies Content

Yesterday, Phillies Nation’s Ty Daubert outlined Bryce Harper’s recent comments about wanting to play in a Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown.
Brandon Marsh, currently on the injured list with a bruised left knee, is on a rehab assignment with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and went 2-for-3 last night with a double: