There is no doubt that Visa is all-in on proliferating the issuance of contactless cards and promoting its acceptance. Sporting venues have long been a favored venue to try out new payment technology, and make an impression on consumers. We saw that with prepaid may years ago and also with wearables. In case you are going to the Super Bowl, Visa is now supporting about half the vendors at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with contactless terminals:
Visa for years has used its sponsorship of the Super Bowl to promote contactless and mobile payments, but it hasn’t squeezed cash out of the event yet.
During Super Bowl LIII at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Feb. 3, Visa will support contactless payments at 30 concessions, Visa said in a Tuesday press release. That’s about half the total concessions in the stadium, which opened in 2017.
Football’s biggest annual event lags behind Major League Baseball, with the Tampa Bay Rays last week announcing the first cashless sports venue in North America.
A cash-free Super Bowl still may be out of reach, but Visa is working on it. Visa just renewed its 24-year National Football League sponsorship, which includes continuing its role as official payments technology provider to the organization through 2025, Visa said in the release.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
