Wicket’s Jeff Boehm Breaks Down Face-Gate Adoption in Sports

On this episode of the ID Talk podcast, Wicket COO Jeff Boehm joins Alex Perala, Tony Bitzionis, and Dave Barclay to talk about how facial authentication is transforming the fan experience at stadiums and live events across the country. Jeff traces Wicket’s origins back to an early partnership with the Cleveland Browns during the height of COVID, when the team needed a safer, faster way to get fans back through the gates, and explains how the company has since grown to nearly a hundred customers across professional sports leagues, conferences, and live events worldwide.The conversation covers how Wicket’s opt-in enrollment process works, what it takes to get fans to adopt new technology, and the critical distinction between facial authentication and facial recognition surveillance. Jeff also discusses the role that legal teams play as gatekeepers for new partnerships, Wicket’s integrations with ticketing and point-of-sale systems, and why the company is deliberately staying focused on sports and live events rather than chasing every possible use case.