New York’s Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and the Beacon Theatre are among the most iconic venues in the world. These venues host a diverse range of events, from sports and concerts to comedy and theatrical performances. Offering an efficient and effective security solution for patron ingress is essential, and with the implementation of Xtract One’s SmartGateway, these venues have enhanced security and operational efficiency while maintaining a welcoming environment.

Traditional security measures can pose challenges related to wait times at ingress and a perceived sense of intimidation. Given each venue's diverse event portfolio and high-profile status, MSG Entertainment required a solution that could efficiently manage large crowds, ensure robust security, and foster a positive experience for all guests.

“With Xtract One, they don’t ‘set it and forget it’. Peter and the team were always there to get us to a place of comfort – it was a partnership every step of the way,” said Robert Castronovo, senior vice president and general manager,  Arena Operations “When we first rolled the product out in venue, I anticipated a learning curve, but in less than two weeks, we were fully set up, operational, and optimized. Not only has our ingress been fantastic, but we haven't had to make an adjustment since.”

Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Beacon Theatre are all located in high traffic locations in New York City. MSG sits atop one of the busiest train stations in the world with 1,200 trains and 600,000 passengers daily, making it a highly complex environment with high vibration and electromagnetic interference that impacts most modern weapons detection systems. Radio City Music Hall, in the Rockefeller Center complex and atop the 47-50th Street subway station, and The Beacon, in the heart of the Upper West Side, both face unique challenges related to their operations and footprints.

Radio City and The Beacon were built in 1932 and 1929 respectively, and while historic in design and character, have architectural characteristics including smaller lobbies that present challenges for many modern screening systems.

The location of these venues in the heart of NYC means diverse crowds ranging from 2,800 to 19,000 people. The variety of events, crowd sizes, and languages spoken by guests means they need a smooth and efficient security screening experience. With as little as 60 minutes to get all guests in and seated for a given performance, and limited space to do so, this process needs to move quickly and efficiently without compromising effectiveness.

MSG Entertainment required an efficient security solution that integrated seamlessly with their iconic venues, and the flow of patron ingress and business operations. Further, MSG Entertainment was seeking a solution that had the flexibility to not only address today’s guest experience needs but also those of the future. After 12 months of continuous testing of solutions available in the market, they chose Xtract One’s SmartGateway for its ability to balance high-level security with an exceptional guest experience and to rapidly address and integrate new capabilities to further enhance the guest experience.

Reasons for selecting SmartGateway:

• Welcoming Experience: SmartGateway creates a more positive atmosphere for guests. Castronovo highlighted that SmartGateway offers a more seamless and less intrusive experience than traditional walkthrough metal detectors, which can be unwelcoming.
• Increased Efficiency: The system significantly enhances the speed of guest entry, reducing wait times and ensuring a smoother process and better guest experience.
• Versatility: SmartGateway’s ability to adapt to different event types and guest volumes is vital for MSG Entertainment’s diverse schedule and venues. Clinton Neils, senior vice president and general manager of Theatre Operations, emphasized its effectiveness across various events and audiences.

“Xtract One understands how to make this innovative new technology work within our unique infrastructure at two landmarked venues,” said Neils. “I remember the first day we set up SmartGateway at Radio City. I was impressed by the idea, but it was the results that really blew me away. And the support from the Xtract One team has been unparalleled.”

Xtract One facilitates a faster ingress process, creating an overall more seamless guest experience and contributing to an improvement in NPS scores related to entering the venue.

Ingress for the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, which seats up to 6,000 guests per show in multiple shows each day, is a logistical challenge. With limited time to egress one 6,000-person show and load the next 6,000- person show, streamlining the ingress process was a key priority. Replacing the traditional metal detectors, which were limited by building space, SmartGateways helped facilitate getting more guests in their seats before the curtain rose.

In addition, with the faster ingress, guests spend more time in venue, which has potential ancillary benefits including increases in food, beverage, and merchandise sales.

The adaptation period for the new system was less than two weeks, achieving a seamless setup and allowing the staff to become fully comfortable with Xtract One in a short timeframe.