#Eli5 stadium bans
Have you ever wondered what happens when a troublemaker gets banned from a stadium for life? 🏟️ Let’s dive into the world of stadium bans and how they are enforced to keep sports events safe and enjoyable for everyone.
##Understanding Lifetime Bans
When a spectator crosses the line by engaging in behaviors like racism, vandalism, violence, streaking, or other disruptive actions, they may face a lifetime ban from the stadium. This means that they are not allowed to attend any future games or events held at that venue.
##Enforcing the Ban
You might be thinking, with tens of thousands of fans attending each game, how is it possible to prevent a banned individual from reentering the stadium? The answer lies in a combination of advanced technology and vigilant security measures.
* **Ticketing System**: Stadiums often use sophisticated ticketing systems that track the identity of each ticket holder. If a banned individual tries to enter the stadium using a ticket purchased under a different name, they will be flagged by the system.
* **Facial Recognition**: Some stadiums have implemented facial recognition technology to identify banned individuals. When a banned person tries to enter the stadium, their face is matched against a database of banned patrons, alerting security instantly.
* **Security Personnel**: Stadiums have security personnel stationed at various entry points who are trained to recognize banned individuals and prevent them from entering the premises. These security professionals play a crucial role in enforcing stadium bans.
##Banning Process and Enforcement
The process of imposing a lifetime ban typically begins with an incident report filed by security or other witnesses. The management of the stadium then reviews the evidence and makes a decision on whether to issue a ban.
Once a ban is in place, the individual’s information is shared with stadium security, law enforcement agencies, and other relevant parties to ensure enforcement.
In summary, stadium bans are a crucial tool in maintaining a safe and enjoyable environment for sports fans. By leveraging technology, vigilant security measures, and a collaborative approach, stadiums can effectively enforce bans and uphold the integrity of their events. So the next time you’re at a game, take comfort in knowing that measures are in place to keep troublemakers at bay. 🚫👮♂️
My buddy got banned from Giants Stadium (american football)
it was not enforced but if he got into a problem with security again they would file charges for trespassing on top of what ever new offense they racked up
He eventually successfully petitioned to get the ban lifted as it was a minor infraction
The answer typically is that it isn’t enforced in the moment unless you’re a repeat offender constantly causing issues to the point that the random security guards can recognize you.
Bcuz the don’t check IDs going into stadiums or anything.
But, if you did get banned, and then did go back and caused trouble and got caught again, on top of kicking you out again, they could try and get you charged with trespassing, an actual crime
As others have said, it depends on the country, sport, league, and venue. Options include:
* Requiring you to physically check-in at the local police station at the start of the game;
* Stopping you from purchasing under your name; and
* Lists/photos given to ticket-takers and security watching cams.
They aren’t.
If a team use digital tickets linked to membership numbers the banned person just makes a new membership account and won’t get flagged when they scan their ticket or phone.
If a team uses physical tickets then literally nothing is done. I think away teams submit IDs of banned supporters but that’s it.
They don’t really check. I got banned from a JC penny in middle school for being obnoxious. My friends and I went back like a month later without incident.
Facial recognition software and AI for CCTV in general has come a long way in the last 10 years. Your face will be added to a blacklist and flagged within 30 seconds for review – and any high-end system will keep track of you across multiple cameras for an operator to guide physical resources towards you.
These systems are at the point where they can also accurately detect violence and firearms, and operators can broad search livestreams from radio reports with terms like “blue hat, grey sweatshirt, black pants” and instantly track anyone who meets that criteria (or met that criteria previously and has since changed clothes – cross referenced with facial and gait recognition amongst others).
For public safety it’s great, looking ahead to the future though there is potential for misuse.
Very much so depends. An nfl team is very different from a local minor league soccer game or whatever. They follow the same basic guidelines tho:
1. Ban your name and card from buying tickets. Pretty easy to get around but is a deterrent
2. Identify you at the door or in the stadium. For big stadiums they have some form of facial recognition that will give them an alert. Smaller venues will usually have someone watching the cameras. The list of banned people and the number of people entering are much lower. If they do get in a lot of times they are the kind of people that like attention so they do something that makes someone notice them
3. If they do come back in or if they did something especially bad, the stadium will pursue charges. If you’ve been banned and come back that’s trespassing. The threat of criminal charges does most of the work but then when people fuck around and find out it really discourages them from doing it again
4. How strict they are on it also depends a little bit on what you did and where you are. A lot of smaller places may have banned 10 people in the past but only really watch for one or two cause those are the ones that are likely to show up and will be issues. Most of the time if you come back 10 years later and look a little different and don’t cause an issue this time they won’t care. With facial recognition that might be changing some tho. I know stories about a good couple people that were banned from places when they were younger and now either come back unnoticed or even in the case of one group they got banned at a local stadium for being idiots when they were younger and now they are friends with the owner and joke about it
Modern security camera systems, especially in places like stadiums, have insane AI processing capabilities that assign a unique ID to everyone who enters and makes it very easy to identify and track the movements of an individual
Many of these people are season ticket holders at their favorite club. Tickets cancelled
There is also a rise in e-ticket and app-based systems vs physical tickets. Instituted to cut down on scalping and counterfeiting. But it ties tickets to specific users and makes banning orders easier to enforce.
It depends on the venue, but I believe Madison Square Garden is actually using face tracking on banned fans to identify them.
https://slate.com/technology/2023/03/madison-square-garden-facial-recognition-stadiums-list.html#:~:text=In%20recent%20months%2C%20Madison%20Square,getting%20flagged%20by%20the%20software.
Besides what some of the other comments have said; there’s one simple way to making it harder for banned individuals to attend games, and I know they do this in England with more severe cases. Individuals are required to check in, in person, at the local police station at match start time.
Sure, they could still manage to find a way to buy tickets and still get to the game late, but it’s at least much more difficult and less and less value for them.
Very generally, if a place is open to the public, and you get asked to leave and not come back, the rules change for you.
Now being there is trespassing. Now they can call the cops for you being there.
It’s not that they can keep you out, but it’s that they have your picture and since they’ve told you that you don’t belong and you came anyway, it’s actionable.
In Italy, for the worst cases you have an extra level of enforcement:
Every game day (home or away), you are summoned to the police station to sign a register, usually at the same time of the match: during the first half of the game, during the second half and a little after the end.
This is to ensure you are not near the stadium during events.
If you don’t go and sign, you could be arrested.
In the Netherlands, people with a stadium ban sometimes have to report themselves at a police station shortly before the match starts.
*What did you do*, OP?
So I worked for a while in lower tier English football, so my answer would be specific to that.
We had our own list, with photos of people banned from our stadium. The visiting team would also send us a photo list of their banned supporters. The CCTV operators would then scan the crowds as they enter and once they were already in.
Our policy was to let the banned supporters buy a ticket, enter the stadium, go buy their food and drinks, then throw them out. Rather than stop them at the gate, cause a big hold up getting everyone else in and then losing the ticket sale.
There was one guy brought a ticket, came in, we kicked him out, he went to another entrance, brought another ticket, came in again and we kicked him out again.
Sometimes banned supporters would get in unnoticed, but honestly they’re the sort of people who always draw attention to themselves anyway, so they usually get spotted and chucked at some point.
There was a national ban list but it was just names, so basically unusable as we don’t ID people coming in.
Asking for a friend, are we? This is a safe space, you can tell us what you did…
My brother used to work in the medical emergency staff in large football event and was often sitting in the “control room”. A large elevated room with perfect visual on the entire stadium.
Next to him there were two agents of the law enforcement agency for terrorism, organized crime, etc.
They had a camera with a huge lens, a computer, and a database. They were scanning the crowd, taking pictures, looking for some people in particular. It’s not that people banned from matches try to sneak it and sit quietly in the last row with a scarf on their face. They are in the middle of the rowdiest group, creating the same troubles that had them kicked out. No intervention was planned during the match, just collection of evidence.
A combination of not letting that name purchase tickets, facial recognition software, and the knowledge that there is an extremely harsh punishment for getting caught there again.