CenturyLink Field Goes Cashless

The home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and MLS’ Seattle Sounders is the latest sports venue to announce it will be going away from cash transactions and moving to a card-based model.

CenturyLink Field will accept only credit, debit and prepaid cards for concessions, retail and on-site parking for the stadium, CenturyLink Field Event Center and WAMU Theater.

“We are continually looking at new technology and innovative ways we can improve our customer experience, and moving to a cashless operations model will reduce the length of time our guests spend standing in line,” said David Young, Seahawks senior vice president of business operations and general manager of CenturyLink Field. “Depending on the event, credit or debit cards are already being used for approximately 75 percent of all concessions transactions and 90 percent for retail purchases, so we are confident this will be a seamless transition for our guests and as a result they will experience a positive improvement in wait times.”

For visitors who don’t have debit or credit cards, 10 cash-to-card ReadySTATION kiosks will be placed throughout the stadium and event center to convert as little as $1 onto a prepaid card, which can be used anywhere inside or outside the stadium where major cards are accepted. The prepaid cards will not be reloadable.

Roaming vendors in the stadium will have card swipers as well, and the only exceptions to the cashless transactions will be the box office and third-party vendors hosting events inside the event center or theater.