Attention all San Francisco 49ers fans that have a collection of commemorative ticket stubs in which you hold a tremendous amount of pride in. Prepare to shed a tear or two. Beginning with the 2015 season, you will no longer be able to add ticket stubs to your collection.
Benny Evangelista, of the San Francisco Chronicle, first reported that in order to achieve their goal of providing fans with a completely mobile and digitized ticketing experience, the San Francisco 49ers will discontinue mailing paper tickets to season ticket holders. In order to enter Levi’s stadium, fans will be required to either show their tickets on the Levi’s Stadium App, which the 49ers unveiled along with their new stadium, or print out their own paper tickets beforehand. These paper tickets, however, aren’t as nice as the laminated hard copies that Niner fans received in the past with the detachable ticket stubs.
Yet, this is a very smart move by the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco is known for it’s various sustainability plans, centers, and events throughout the city promoting green living. With the Niners organization shifting towards a completely digital and mobile ticketing experience, they are also providing a “greener” experience to their fans and the environment. Without paper tickets, there is one less item that fans will litter with in the excitement of attending the game.
The San Francisco 49ers first experimented with digital ticketing when they introduced their Levi’s Stadium App shortly after they unveiled their new stadium. With only 13% of Niners fans currently using the hard copies of their tickets as keepsakes, the organization is motivated to provide a completely digitized experience by the beginning of next season. While hard tickets do serve as great reminders of the gameday experience for fans, the memories and excitement you experience when attending a game cannot be lost as easily as a piece of paper. Best of all, the San Francisco 49ers are becoming sustainable Niners simultaneously and supporting the city’s plans!