Anyone who knows me knows I have a penchant for technology--I'm a closet geek, if you will. So it was with great interest I read a recent article on some of the background and implementation strategy behind one of the showcase transformations of this season for Lightning fans: the radio-frequency identification (RFID)-enabled jersey given to season-ticket holders.

In a recent article in an industry journal, some information was publicized. A run down of the article:

• The point-of-sale (POS) provider (a company owned by NCR) of the existing equipment is the provider of the equipment to read the RFIDs, but the RFIDs themselves are made by Precision Dynamics (I recommend watching the PDC RFID solutions video).
• The passive tags operate at 13.56MHz, which shares the radio spectrum with shortwave and CB radios as well as over-the-horizon airplane radios. However, because they comply with the ISO 15693 standard, the maximum distance from which each jersey RFID can be "read" is about 5 feet (1.5 meters).
• The RFID for each jersey is stored on a server owned by the Lightning, and each purchase is associated with that unique RFID number.
• The RFID implementation helps the Lightning business operations with better inventory control and order history.
• The purchasing history as a whole as well as of each individual RFID helps the Lightning "improve [their] understanding of purchasing trends, and thereby gain a better comprehension of how the services are being utilized by season-pass holders."
• The RFIDs allow customized interactions with seaston ticket holders: "those who rarely make purchases may simply need to be educated that the products are available, or contacted to ensure they are continuing to utilize the season pass to attend games, as well as receive discounts."
• The number of season ticket holders has grown from 6,000 last year to 11,000 this year.
• Despite the 25% and 35% discounts offered season ticket holders, revenue from sales of food, beverages, and team merchandise is up.
• The Lightning will further use RFID functionality next season.

The whole article is here.