Earlier this year at Paciolan’s annual PACnet event, attendees were greeted by more than just the registration table. That entry point featured a Wicket pedestal so those interested could test out the facial authenticator’s tech for themselves.
“We did the check-in right at the registration booth,” said Paciolan President Brendan Lynch. “So, that was a little bit of fun we had.”
I’ve seen this setup before. When Golfweek Tech Lab visited Charlotte last year, Wicket had a similar welcoming role. It’s an effective demonstration that quickly shows just how much the startup can boost ingress.
We may start seeing that quickness spread through college sports with the latest integration between Wicket, a 2024 honoree of SBJ’s 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies, and college ticketer Paciolan.
Wicket has seen serious potential in colleges over the last couple of years. Through its Ticketmaster integration, Wicket built relationships through deployments at Florida, Ohio State and Boise State. Ohio State, Wicket COO Jeff Boehm mentioned, has been particularly creative in using Wicket not only for events but also for access to an athlete-only cafeteria (which is similar to its league-wide deployment for the NFL credentialing system at venues). While Wicket doesn’t share pricing, it varies based on the number of pedestals a school wants to use.
There’s a wider potential now with Paciolan, which works with more than 170 schools. The collaboration means Wicket’s technology can integrate with Paciolan’s entry platform. Lynch sees Wicket as a product that can offer quicker entry for students (which is a population that often floods gates close to game time, no matter the school) and provide an upscale-feeling experience (due to the name recognition shown on the screen) for even the donor class.
While it’s too early to cite a number of colleges interested in working with Wicket — pilots will begin taking place in the spring and summer — Lynch shared the outreach has been massive.
“Our conversation before PACnet was, ‘OK, what if a hundred people want it tomorrow?’” Lynch said. “And there’s been more demand there than even the schools themselves are ready for. And so it’s been more about managing their processes, making sure they’re ready for it.”
Lynch said his hope is that schools will pilot with situations requiring lesser demand — spring sports don’t approach the foot traffic of a football game day— to ramp up and get more comfortable with Wicket as a new addition to the fan experience toolbox.
These recent developments with Paciolan-affiliated schools have also opened another sector for Wicket: Boehm mentioned that some schools are already using it for performance art centers. That’s been especially useful for returning visitors, like those with a season pass for shows. But 2026 sounds like many college sports fans around the country will be checking out the experience soon — similarly to those attendees at PACnet.
“The hope is that we’ll certainly be fully productional and ready to go well before football season this fall so that we can get some of these big football programs up and running,” Boehm said. “The college space is definitely a big opportunity for us.”