Heading to Tropicana Field? Leave your cash at home

Tropicana Field will become the first cash-free sports venue in North America this spring, the Tampa Bay Rays announced Friday.

The box office, concession stands and team stores will accept only credit cards, debit cards, Rays gift cards, cards issued to season-ticket holders, and mobile payments, such as Apple Pay.

Rays officials said pilot testing showed that cashless transactions took about half the time as those done with cash, which resulted in faster lines and happier fans.

“Throughout our testing last season at Tropicana Field, we saw that fans quickly adapted to cash-free environments and loved the resulting benefits to the game-day experience,” said Jaime Faulkner, CEO of tech firm E15. “By offering fans a variety of forms of electronic payment, coupled with the ability to exchange cash for gift cards, we can ensure that fans are having frictionless experiences and getting back to enjoy the game.”

Fans who don’t have a credit card or access to another form of electronic payment can use their cash to buy gift cards in $10 or $20 at the stadium to use for concessions, souvenirs or tickets to a future game.

The team’s Fan Fest on Feb. 9 will be the first cash-free event at Tropicana Field in 2019.

–Field Level Media