APS Athletics moving to cashless ticket sales

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — High school football season kicks off next week in the Albuquerque metro. If you plan on heading out to a game, there are some new changes that Albuquerque Public Schools made this year.

You will need your phone to get into any APS-sanctioned games because they have now moved to cashless ticket sales.

The New Mexico Activities Association already does cashless ticket sales at all of their state championship events, so APS says this helps streamline things with the NMAA.

Before this year, all APS ticket sales were cash only. They also said other school districts in the state have transitioned to cashless platforms too, like Los Alamos, which uses the same platform that APS will be using – Hometown Ticketing.

APS officials said one of the most important reasons for the switch revolves around safety.

“The most important reason is we wanted to put our event staff ticket-takers and ticket-sellers in a more safe environment,” said Adrian Ortega, senior director of APS Athletics. “We wanted to limit the amount of cash that they were handling throughout each event.”

APS acknowledged there will be a transition period and that their staff will be out there helping fans who might have difficulties getting into the game.

Ticket prices are still the same – $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. However, there will be a $1 fee and some credit card processing fees, according to APS.

APS says their goal is to eventually go cashless for everything at events, like concessions too.