MLB’s Tropicana Field Goes Cashless

Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays are electing to go cash-free at Tropicana Field for the 2019 season. Well, cash-free except for Rays manager Kevin Cash. He can stay.

Per an article in Nation’s Restaurant News, the team worked with hospitality provider Levy and tech firm E15 to make Tropicana Field the first completely cash-free sports venue in North America, with all concessions, team stores, box office and other points of sale operating without a cash option.

In conjunction with E15, the Rays did extensive pilot testing last season, the NRN article noted. Not only did their efforts reduce the average transaction time by 50 percent, but they were also able to convert the wait time at the ballpark’s highest-volume stand from seven minutes to less than two minutes.

According to an article in the Tampa Bay Times, forms of payment that will be accepted include major credit cards, mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, Rays gift cards and season-ticket holder Rays Cards. Fans without electronic forms of payment can exchange cash at all retail locations and through roaming gift-card vendors in $10 and $20 increments.

Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays on Facebook.