FC Koln and St Gallen blaze the trail

Two years before Dijon’s French first, Bundesliga side FC Koln trialled a scarf-based entry system in 2022 for a pre-season friendly against AC Milan. The system allowed fans to scan the NFC chip with their phones to unlock extra digital content, including pre-match video footage.

Swiss club FC St Gallen then became the first to adopt the idea permanently. Working with technology platform ZATAP, which led the integration, St Gallen was described by the company as the “first sports club to offer its season subscription in the form of a scarf.”

The St Gallen system went further than simple entry. Supporters collected points and badges by attending matches and other club activities, with the fan accruing the most points across the season rewarded with a complimentary season ticket for the following campaign.

Shirts and beer in Mexico and Brazil

NFC technology has also been woven into matchday apparel beyond scarves. In 2022, a system called “Jersey Pay” let Mexico supporters have a chip inserted into their jerseys to make contactless payments for Corona beer inside the Azteca Stadium.

The same year, Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro introduced NFC chips in club shirts, enabling fans to purchase goods and access digital content. Together, the experiments point to a growing appetite across world football for turning fan merchandise into both ticket and wallet.