Elevating the fan experience at SSE Arena Belfast

Northern Ireland’s premier entertainment venue built an immersive customer experience for fans with the stadia and event solution from Global Payments.

The customer

SSE Arena Belfast

Situated in the heart of Belfast’s iconic Titanic Quarter, the SSE Arena is home to the Belfast Giants — Ireland’s first professional ice hockey team. Over the past 25 years, millions of fans have flocked to the SSE Arena to see ice hockey games, along with comedy shows, conferences and concerts.

The challenge

Friction in high-volume areas

Like any sports and entertainment venue, the SSE Arena needs to scale up for peak purchase periods where fans seek food, drinks or merchandise in short, intense bursts. Working with Global Payments, the SSE Arena transformed one of the busiest floor areas of the SSE Arena into a high volume dispense bar with self-service kiosks that reduce queue times. They also rolled out Global Payments countertop and EPOS devices across the entire arena — from concourse and hospitality suites.

The solution

Seamless customer journeys

In 2024, the SSE Arena also introduced frictionless retail technology which makes it possible for customers to be in and out in just 10 seconds. Customers can simply tap their payment method on entering the shop, choose drinks and snacks and leave the store without actively paying at a till. By leveraging data-driven insights, the SSE Arena can now personalise the experience for annual suite holders, with menu items and promotional offers based on their previous purchases.

Key achievements on completion of the project

• Became an entirely cashless venue with EPOS deployed throughout the concourse and hospitality suites
• Delivered 80 fixed tills in normal concourse and bars, 20 mobile POS for hospitality, 12 self-order kiosks
• Enabled QR code ordering
• Created a frictionless retail store where customers can be in and out in 10 seconds
• Reduced queue times
• Disperse crowds from congested areas and into multiple payment channels
• Increased order size and accuracy with self-service kiosks
• Enabled more speed at the high-volume dispense bar
• Minimized transaction times with intuitive handheld and countertop devices