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"Clear Me" at the Ballpark: Clearly It Doesn't Work

21 April 2018

The Clear "line" at Coors Field on Opening Day, 6 April 2018

I made it to two Opening Day games this year. One was at Yankee Stadium on 3 April (postponed from 2 April because of SNOW!). The other was at Coors Field on 6 April (another frigid affair).

At both games, I used the Clear lane for — allegedly — speedy access to the park. Their slogan, after all, is "Skip the line, every time." But. Not so fast.

Clear at the ballpark is a free offering. People can register at the ballpark day of game and gain access to the service. The much more beneficial airport service requires a $179 annual fee. As a member of both TSA PreCheck and Clear, I can say it's worth it. Depending on the flight time, I've seen the TSA PreCheck line get rather long. Nothing like the standard security line, mind you, but long in comparison to Clear, in which I'm treated like a borderline rock star as I get whisked right on through to the security check.

With security concerns on the rise all over, stadiums, arenas and ballparks are also increasing security procedures, including bag limitations and metal detectors. In theory, Clear at the ballpark should help fans get in faster, much like at the airport.

But it's not working out that way in reality. And I have some observations as to why that's the case.

For one thing, there's an inconsistency in procedures.

At Yankee Stadium, I had high hopes as a Clear agent walked the line with a tablet, allowing members to sign in quickly, ahead of the gates opening. That's great — but then the gates opened and the single-file security check went at a crawl. The general security lines were moving much faster, putting into question the value of the Clear process.

At Coors Field, it was much worse — to the point of being pure slop. There was not orderly sign-in by tablet. Instead, people were taken out of the line to go over to a Clear kiosk for check-in. Awkward. And then, again, it was a slow, single-file check-in line. Several people bailed on the Clear line and got in faster through the standard gate entrances.

So. Clear's not such a great service at the ballpark.

And the shame of it is it's no doubt intended to be a marketing tool to spur on sales of the full service.

What could make Clear more effective at events such as baseball games and concerts? I've been through so many general admission lines at U2 concerts, I think I have some valid observations. For starters, Clear hasn't adapted its airport strategy to the event environment.

Gates open at a specific time — at baseball games, it's typically two hours before first pitch. Clear is supposed to get people in faster. Particularly at special events like Opening Day, people want to get in fast in order to grab that special Opening Day ball or whatever, make their way to Memorial Park, grab some suds, then settle in before the ceremonies. And enjoy taking it all in.

Clear only superficially helps matters. What should happen — and what could further drive enrollment — is the sense of special treatment I get while at the airport. Distilling it down to the scale of the ballpark, that might look something like this: Check-in via tablet, go through the complete security check, then wait in a holding spot in front of the gate (granted, to make it practical and secure, there'd have to be no in-and-out activities at that point). Then, when the gates open, Clear members go right on into the park at an exponentially faster clip than the standard gates.

That's just a thought. Perhaps it's not entirely practical. And it'd certainly involve much more coordination between and the ballparks. But there'd be a real service of a certain value for fans to enjoy.

On the airport side of things, only a week after those baseball games and Clear's failure at the ballparks, I was at Denver International Airport (DIA) for a Sunday afternoon flight. The standard security queue was substantial and the TSA PreCheck line was unusually long, but there was nobody going through the Clear lane. I was ushered right on through to check-in with Clear, then over to the security agent. It was spectacular. It's a service frequent travelers — or occasional travelers who prefer a certain customer experience — should find of value.

Of course, in the airport setting, given the consistent volume of passengers going through the security check, it's a totally different order of magnitude than the ballpark scenario. The ballpark is a specific, timed event with an initial rush of activity as the gates open. Cruising right on past a large number of people, then going through the baggage check and metal detectors is a much faster experience.

At the ballpark, Clear only muddies the system. The value is simply not clear. Pun intended.

In this era of "death by survey," I was expecting some sort of simple one-question customer satisfaction survey from at least one of the visits. It never happened. So, here it is now; my feedback by way of the Artificial Intelligencer.