Shift4 Grows Its Sports Portfolio By Signing the NHL’s St. Louis Blues

Shift4 Payments Inc. has expanded its stadium-pay domain by signing a deal with the National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues to provide payment processing at the Enterprise Center, the team’s arena, and the adjacent Stifel Theater. Shift4 will also provide software for the Blues’ loyalty program, mobile wallet, and ordering kiosks. The kiosks will be placed throughout the arena to help reduce wait times at concessions stands.

The deal gives Shift4 a more than 61% share of the processing pie for professional sports teams and schools within the NCAA’s Power 5 conferences. Processing payments for sports venues is a highly competitive business with such players as Cheq Inc., Fiserv Inc., and The OLB Group Inc. vying for market share.

Part of the impetus behind the deal was the Blues’ desire to work with a single vendor to help manage its point-of-sale, loyalty, and other customer facing apps, Shift4 says.

“The Blues [work] with several technology vendors for things like vendors for POS processing and loyalty. We are a technology company that powers payments, which creates a one-stop shop and is a key point of differentiation for us,” says Dustin Alpert, head of sports entertainment for Shift4.  “We provide streamlined payment rails that can integrate with other areas such as ticketing.”

In addition to have Shift4 process payments, The Stifel Theater will use Shift4’s restaurant POS software. In addition to concerts and stage productions, the theater hosts such events as weddings and business meetings and fundraisers.

The deal with the Blues builds on Shift4’s announcement last week that it will provide processing for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. Shift4 will process the Cavaliers’ ticket purchases, as well provide processing for concessions.

“Post-Covid, a lot of sports and entertainment venues are looking to go cashless, as there are a lot of ancillary costs associated with accepting cash,” says Alpert. “Besides processing and related services, we can provide clients transaction data that helps them improve the customer experience.”