The Venue Size Myth: Why Just Walk Out technology isn’t just for large venues

“Sometimes I walk by and wonder if we have any sales going on because people are walking through so fast. The lines are completely gone.”

That’s Cliff Laucht, Director of Food and Beverage at VenuWorks, operator of Blue Cross Arena, 13,000-seat arena in upstate New York. And he’s not describing a slow Tuesday. He’s describing peak intermission traffic, the exact moment when concession lines used to spill into hallways and block entire concourse sections.

The difference? Two existing concession storefronts were converted to frictionless markets powered by Just Walk Out technology. With minimally invasive construction, no expanded footprint, and no additional POS stations, Blue Cross Arena created a fundamentally different way to move fans through concessions with frictionless checkout technology.

If you operate a venue in the 8,000 to 15,000-seat range, you already know the math doesn’t work the same way it does for larger buildings. You may be dealing with:

• Aging infrastructure you can’t easily change. Many mid-size arenas are decades old. Concourses are narrow. Storefronts are fixed. You can’t knock out a wall to add a second register bank.
• Tight capital budgets. You don’t have the luxury of piloting expensive technology that takes years to pay back.
• Skepticism from stakeholders. Whether it’s a city operations committee, a management company board, or your own team, the reaction to new concession technology is often the same: That sounds expensive. It probably won’t work here. Our fans won’t get it.
• The same fan expectations as the big venues. Your guests watch the same NFL and NBA broadcasts with their sleek in-venue experiences. They expect speed and convenience regardless of your building’s age or budget.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Just Walk Out technology is that it requires a massive infrastructure overhaul. The reality is that recent deployment enhancements have been specifically designed to reduce implementation barriers, costs and infrastructure requirements. The technology is now more accessible across diverse retail environments. For Blue Cross Arena this meant that a ceiling camera grid was added to the existing storefronts. The footprint wasn’t expanded but optimized and the two POS stations and counter were removed, opening up the space.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Use what you already have. Approximately 95% of existing store fixtures can be reused. No costly refrigerator or food warmer replacements are necessary. No ripping out what’s already working.
• No specialized infrastructure required. The technology runs on existing venue network extensions. Standard 20 or 30 amp power works for most deployments, meaning it plugs into your existing building infrastructure without costly upgrades.
• Simplified hardware footprint. A simple wall-mounted cabinet replaces the need for dedicated networking rooms. Entry and exit gates install without drilling into floors. And optimized camera deployment means fewer cameras while maintaining complete coverage, cutting both installation time and hardware costs.
• Lower space requirements than ever. Ceiling height requirements have been lowered to just 8 feet above finished floor, opening opportunities in spaces that were previously considered unsuitable for this type of technology.

All of this means the barrier is lower than most operators expect. If your venue has standard power, business internet, and 8-foot ceilings, youlikely alreadyhave the infrastructure you need.

When VenuWorks implemented Just Walk Out technology at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, the results came fast. Revenue climbed significantly within the first few months Not because they added products or raised prices, but because they removed the friction that was suppressing purchases.

“I’ve talked with some of the other executive directors quite often, and they’re definitely interested,” Holman said. “But it’s got to make sense to them for the capital investments.” At Blue Cross Arena, the math made sense quickly, with VenuWorks recouping their investment in less than five months.

What was even more telling of the success of the stores was what happened with fan behavior. The majority of shoppers who tried the seamless experience came back on their own, event after event. As Colin Holman, Executive Director at VenuWorks, described it: “fans who previously bought one item per visit started making second and third trips because the process was so fast.” That’s not novelty. That’s a new habit.

A common misconception about automated checkout technology is that it replaces people. Checkout-free technology removes the register from the equation, and that changes what your staff can do. Instead of scanning items and processing payments, your team is freed up to focus on what actually improves the fan experience. With Just Walk Out technology, staff can focus on greeting guests, verifying IDs, guiding first-time users, and keeping operations running smoothly

At Blue Cross Arena, staff remained actively stationed at both converted stores. But their role evolved from transactional to hospitality-focused, engaging with fans rather than managing a queue. It’s a shift that venues can leverage, however makes sense for their operation. Some reallocate staff to higher-impact areas of the venue. Others maintain the same presence with a better guest interaction. Either way, the optimized store layout and elimination of the traditional checkout process gives operators flexibility they didn’t have before. It’s a pattern that holds across all Just Walk Out deployments: the technology handles the transactions so your staff can support the experience.

“It’s too expensive for a venue of our size.”
The economics have shifted. The deployment model is designed to work within existing building systems, and the revenue lift at Blue Cross Arena far outpaced the investment timeline. This is a near-term revenue accelerator, not a long-horizon capital bet.

“It won’t work in our building.”
Blue Cross Arena is 70 years old. The concourses are narrow. Expanding the stores wasn’t an option. Adding more cashier stations wasn’t feasible. That’s precisely why Just Walk Out technology was the right fit. With lowered ceiling requirements, no-drill gate installation, and compatibility with existing fixtures, the technology is built to work within constraints, not around them.

“Our fans won’t adopt it.”
Fans didn’t need extensive education. They scanned a payment method, grabbed what they wanted, and left. The staff remained there to help. The initial curiosity quickly turned into routine. People figured it out fast, and they kept coming back with a repeat shopper rate of 71% by season end.

The gap between what fans expect and what mid-size venues can deliver has been widening for years. But the barriers that once made checkout-free technology impractical for smaller buildings have been systematically removed. Lower infrastructure requirements. Simplified installation. Reduced hardware costs. Faster payback timelines.

You don’t need a new building. You don’t need a massive capital investment. You need to remove the bottleneck that’s costing you revenue every single event night.

Want the complete breakdown of how VenuWorks transformed concession operations at Blue Cross Arena, including the specific revenue results, repeat rate data, and implementation details? Download the full case study.