Football fans try "clear" fast pass

Now, here is a story of pure entrepreneurship: If you run a company which collects individuals’ biometric and background information in order to allow these individuals to move faster through airport security, why not offer organizers of events in which many people congregate — say, football games — that people who have the fast-card to go through airport security faster be able to use the very same card to fast-track their entry into the football stadium? It happened. First airport security, and now “Clear” cards with the fingerprint and other biometric information allow you to skip the lines at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. The cards were rolled out for the San Francisco 49ers-Detroit Lions game Sunday, and people whose backgrounds have been given the all clear by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) simply flash their cards at the Stick and avoid security lines.

“This is the first Clear lane that has been opened at a football game for a stadium. It takes the fast past for airport security and applies it to stadium security. If you have a Clear card you can get in the fast lane here at Candlestick Park,” said Palm Coast, Florida-based Clear technology chief Jason Slibeck. KCBS’ Tim Ryan reports, for example, that football fan Candice Kagin of Tiburon spent all of fifteen seconds getting through the gate. “This is great, it’s better than at the airport cause there’s usually a few people ahead of me there. This is fun,” said Slibeck.

Clear (company’s motto: “Fly through airport security”), with more than 200,000 users and 18 airports across the United States, costs $128 a year and does not prevent security people from checking you for things like bottles or weapons. Clear is also starting up at Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons games.