Gate A35 Meets Section 135: What Airports Can Teach Us About Fan Behavior
From terminals to turnstiles, there's a lot more overlap than we think
Happy REAL ID Day for those who celebrate! If you are an American and don’t have one, you might want to read this article here or today could be a rough day in the airport security line.
After spending some time in airports over the last few weeks and in honor of this special milestone for our country, I wanted to touch on human behavior and airports, and what we can learn when applying these practices to sports fans.
The reality is that identification, timing, and access are more emotional than they sound. There's the rush to get in, the bottlenecks, the directional signs that make or break your mood, and the collective sigh of relief when you finally sit down. Both environments are high-density, high-stakes, and deeply emotional. You're either anticipating a destination or an outcome, and everything leading up to that moment has the potential to frustrate or delight.
That's what makes this comparison so useful. Airports aren't always enjoyable, but they've spent decades analyzing how people move, spend, and behave under time pressure. In many ways, they're a blueprint for what sports teams can learn from when people are *literally* stuck, waiting for their departure.
A set time changes everything
Whether it's a boarding time or a kickoff, people behave differently when there's a firm deadline. It shapes when they arrive, how quickly they move, and how much they're willing to spend. You don't see people casually wandering into security five minutes before their flight (unless they are consultants). They plan around the clock.
The same thing happens at sporting events. When fans know exactly when the action starts, and when there's something worthwhile to do beforehand, they're more likely to show up early. When they don't, they all pile in at once.
It's the same instinct that fuels airports and stadiums alike: fear of missing out. Whether it's your connecting flight or the best moment of the game, the urgency is real, and it drives everything from arrival patterns to emotional intensity.
What if every venue had a digital board out front, like the ones in airport terminals, showing real-time info like:
Peak entry times from previous games
Wait times by gate
Concession line lengths
QR codes to access seat upgrades or content
Think of it as the departure board for game day. Not just useful, but calming. It turns anxiety into agency. And for those who aren’t as app-savvy, or worse, when stadium Wi-Fi inevitably cuts out, a clear physical board is a lifesaver. Not everyone wants to navigate five menu screens to find a gate update or wait time. Sometimes, the simplest tech is the most accessible.
People will pay to skip the line, even if they still have to wait
They’ll stay loyal if they believe you’ll make their experience better next time.
The REAL ID rollout, TSA PreCheck lanes, and airline elite status tiers all point to the same thing: people want smoother access, and they’re willing to jump through a few hoops, or pay, to get it. Loyalty programs aren't just about miles or perks. They’re about trust. They signal that your experience matters, that you’ve earned your place to go first.
That same psychology plays out in sports.
Dwell time is money
Airports are built around dwell time. They know you're going to be stuck for a while, so they make sure you have a reason to spend money during that window. Restaurants, duty-free shops, upgraded lounges, they're all designed to capture attention during the in-between.
Stadiums often miss this. Gates open an hour or two before the game, but there's not always a clear reason to show up early. The result is a last-minute crush at security and lost revenue in the time fans could have been exploring, eating, or buying.
The opportunity is to shift the mindset from pregame logistics to pregame experience. Teams that offer early-entry incentives, happy hour pricing, or live warmup content are tapping into the same playbook that airports have been using for years. I wrote about this a few weeks ago in this article about mixed use spaces.
We don't think enough about chokepoints
In airports, we expect bottlenecks: security, boarding zones, customs. They're built into the experience, but they're also managed intentionally (we hope). There's usually some form of queuing system, live updates, or staff on hand to direct traffic.
Stadiums have their own chokepoints: bag check lines, escalators, narrow concourses. The difference is that we rarely design those spaces as experiences. They're just accepted pain points. these are actually high-attention moments. People are waiting, looking around, and more willing to engage than you might expect.
Micro-moments drive memory
We don't talk enough about the small, shared moments between strangers. Think of the gate delay that turns into a group joke, or the seatmate you bond with over turbulence. Stadiums have those moments too, the person you high-five after a goal, or the person you vent to in line at halftime.
These micro-interactions are easy to overlook, but they play a huge role in how fans remember the day. They're what turn transactions into experiences. They also open the door for surprise-and-delight moments that can feel personal in a sea of thousands.
When teams enable those moments, through things like section-wide chants, mini contests, or even targeted surprise rewards, they create memories that feel bigger than the game.
Seat neighbors matter more than we admit
Whether you're in 22A and the guy in 22B is doing elbow gymnastics, or you're in Section 135 and someone's standing up every two minutes with a full tray of nachos, your neighbors shape your experience. You don't choose them, but you remember them.
In both airports and stadiums, these unspoken social contracts matter. On a plane, you're all navigating the same cramped space and shared armrests. At a game, you're sharing reactions, standing rhythms, even collective chants. Sometimes, that energy is contagious. Other times, it's distracting.
We tend to think about fan experience in terms of big touchpoints, ticketing, and food & beverage, but the people seated directly around you can tip the day from great to forgettable, no matter where you’re seated. They influence whether you feel like part of a community or just a customer in a crowded place.
For all the planning that goes into entrances and exits, the 2–3 hours you spend shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers might matter the most.
How people leave tells you just as much
Airports track exit behavior constantly. How long it takes to deplane, where traffic jams up, and how travelers disperse are key aspects of this journey.
Some airports have clear directions to ride shares and taxis, and others require you to take a long commute to find one (ex: LAX-it) Exit patterns offer clues about traffic flow, staffing needs, and even fan satisfaction.
Not every fan leaves at the same time. Some want to beat traffic. Others want to soak it in and watch the ‘three stars’ or post game entertainment. Some are still glued to their seats. These different behaviors can guide smarter decisions ride-share logistics, allowing fans to stay for longer, and even when to drop push notifications or merch offers.
The real lesson
We don't need to turn sports venues into airports, but we can borrow their logic. Both are spaces where time, emotion, and movement collide. Airports have spent decades studying how to move people through those moments with less friction and more control. It's far from perfect, but there's still plenty to learn from the imperfections.
Whether you're scanning a boarding pass or a ticket, the fear of missing out still applies. The real win is making sure people remember what they didn't miss and avoid customer service phone lines.