What’s new at Huntington Bank Field this season?

CLEVELAND (WJW) – The name of the stadium won’t be the only new thing Browns fans will encounter as the team kicks off their season on Sunday.

At Huntington Bank Field, the fan experience is top of mind for the Browns team behind the scenes.

This will be the third year of their Express Access system that allows fans to use a selfie and their ticket information to skip the long lines through facial recognition technology.

That same Express Access is now being added to 10 concession stands around the stadium to skip the line when grabbing food or a drink.

“[Concession stands are] Another area that there’s been line challenges. We’re really trying to mitigate that and avoid that for our fans, and this technology has been so successful with entry,” Browns VP of IT Brandon Covert said.

Fans can sign up for Express Access through the Browns’ website, app or at the stadium.

Last year, around 10,000 fans per game used it to get in. They want to see that number grow to avoid the long lines, Covert said.

The team’s Marketing Director, Matt Papatheodorou, told Fox 8 they’re hoping to drive more fan engagement during game breaks.

The goal is to make it customizable to each fan. Through the team’s dog tags program, each seat has a QR code fans can scan. It sends them to the team’s app.

There, they can sign up to win prizes, enter in the 50/50 raffle, request songs to be played during the game, or take a selfie that might end up on the video boards.

“There are a number of planned elements that are very different year over year to make sure that fans continue seeing new, exciting, creative, fun things happening that, again, change that experience and elevate their experience,” Papatheodorou explained.

There are also new food items at Symon’s Burger Joint, which used to be B Spot. The menu now includes a smash burger and two sandwiches from Mabel’s BBQ.

On Sunday, the halftime show will feature the Ohio State Marching Band.

The team is hoping to drum up excitement pregame with a surprise Dawg Pound Captain who will smash a guitar to fire up the crowd.

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