THE CHICAGO CUBS
Bunker Suite Access Control

Project Overview

Ahead of the 2018 season, The Chicago Cubs sought a security wristband provider to help them control access to their newest premier offering, the American Airlines 1914 Club. As a part of the club, six new “Bunker” Suites were built within requiring an extra level of wristband security.

The American Airlines 1914 Club is home to nearly 700 members. In addition, each of the 6 new Bunker Suites offer an exclusive premier experience for 12 guests at each of the 81 home games throughout the 2018 season.

The Cubs will be using a special wristband for each game for all of its American Airlines 1914 Club members. In addition, the Cubs will be using RFID technology to grant members access to each of their Bunker Suites.

“ID&C’s team not only met our requirements for the credentials, but provided excellent service, knowledge and support which was crucial to the success of the project.”

Brian Garza

Director Ticket Services, Chicago Cubs

CHICAGO,
IL

MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL

CAPACITY:
41,160

The Venue
Wrigley Field

• Built in 1914

• Originally known as Weeghman Park

• Estimated build cost: $250,000

• Original capacity: 14,000

• Second oldest ballpark in MLB

• First homer hit by Art Wilson

The Solution

To help support the Cubs’ requirements, ID&C turned to its flagship RFID and non-RFID cloth wristbands. Creating more than 50,000 wristbands overall, ID&C used its high quality printing methods, along with unique variable data, to differentiate between the regular non-RFID access for the nearly 700 members of the American Airlines 1914 Club and the exclusive RFID wristbands that offer Bunker Suite access.

Each game-day wristband for the American Airlines 1914 Club was printed with the date and logos of the Cubs and their opponents. This prevented the chance of misuse or fraudulent access to these areas at future games. Every wristband also featured a secure one-time-use Barrel Lock, preventing the wristbands from being re-used or passed back to others.

For the Bunker Suites within the American Airlines 1914 Club, the wristbands had the additional feature of an RFID SmartCard. ID&C created the RFID SmartCards with the specific requirements needed to integrate with the Cubs’ in-house RFID access system. Upon being scanned, the RFID wristbands would grant access to the ultra exclusive Bunker Suites.

Crucial to the project was the accuracy and detail of the packing & delivery. ID&C’s experienced logistics team provided a highly detailed packing process that separated all of the nearly 700 non-RFID wristbands by game for the American Airlines 1914 Club and segmented each of the Bunker Suite RFID wristbands into batches of 12 units for each of the 6 Bunker Suites for all 81 regular season home games. This enabled the Corporate Team to easily allocate the wristbands on a game-by-game basis.