How SeatGeek and Rain are connecting game day payments and rewards

SeatGeek has sold more than 150 million tickets and works with some of the biggest teams in professional sports. But buying a ticket has traditionally been only one part of game day. Entry, concessions, merchandise, payments, and rewards have often lived in separate systems.

SeatGeek built Game Day Your Way to bring those experiences together in one system. Within it, Rain powers its payments and rewards layer, connecting a team-branded wallet, virtual card with Uptop, the fan rewards platform Rain acquired in 2025 that already powers Cavs Rewards.

Following successful pilots during the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run earlier this year, SeatGeek is expanding the program to bring fans and teams closer together through unique experiences.

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The challenge: game day runs on disconnected systems

A team may know when a fan scans a ticket, but have a much less complete view of what happens afterward. Food purchases, merchandise, and rewards are handled by different providers. That makes it harder to recognize fans, respond in real time, or measure which offers actually drive spending.

Many teams already offer credits for concessions and merchandise. The catch is that these are typically closed-loop programs: the money can be spent only at participating merchants inside the venue. They work for game day, but usually stop at the stadium gates.

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The solution: one experience for fans

SeatGeek built Game Day Your Way to connect every touchpoint of game day, from entry and box office to wait times, offers, and payments, into a single system. For teams that opt in, Rain powers the Virtual Payment piece of that system: the team-branded wallet, virtual card, and rewards engine behind it.  Here is what that can look like for a fan:

• Scan a ticket to enter the stadium and receive a team offer, such as a $10 concessions credit.
• Use a virtual card in a phone's mobile wallet to buy food or merchandise at participating merchants.
• Earn eligible rewards and receive offers tied to game-day activity, without switching between disconnected systems.

The fan sees familiar dollar balances, purchases, and rewards. Rain handles the underlying card and payments infrastructure.

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How Rain's hybrid-loop payments technology works

Traditional closed-loop programs let a team control where funds can be spent, but restrict those funds to a defined merchant network. Open-loop cards run on existing card networks and can be used more broadly.

Rain's hybrid-loop technology brings these approaches together through a branded wallet, stablecoin-powered card, and rewards program.

The card uses stablecoin infrastructure behind the scenes to move and settle funds, but fans never need to buy, hold, or interact with stablecoins themselves.

The result is a wallet built to support spending and rewards across participating merchants, from concessions inside the stadium to local businesses beyond it.

For example, after a win, a team could send fans a credit to celebrate at a nearby bar. Fans could use the same wallet they used at the game.

Because the card works through existing payment acceptance infrastructure, participating businesses wouldn't need to install new payment terminals.

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A better understanding of fans and new ways to engage them

Connecting ticketing and spending also gives teams a clearer picture of the fan experience and Rain’s wallet and card extend that to the purchases themselves.”

Instead of an anonymous card swipe, participating purchases can be tied to a ticketed fan. Teams can see when fans arrive, where they spend, and how rewards are used.

That makes it possible to send more relevant offers in real time:

• A concession credit when a fan enters the stadium.
• A personalized perk for a season ticket holder.
• A reward for purchasing merchandise or spending with a team sponsor.
• An incentive to visit a participating local business after the game.

Teams can create programs that reach beyond game day and drive traffic to local businesses.

For teams and sponsors, this creates new ways to drive spending, measure engagement, and build relationships with fans throughout the year.

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Why the infrastructure matters

The challenge is not simply issuing a card or adding rewards. It is getting ticketing, wallets, cards, merchant restrictions, incentives, and settlement to work together without making the experience harder for fans or merchants.

Rain brings card issuance, hybrid-loop payments, rewards integration, and stablecoin settlement together through its platform.

Its acquisitions of Uptop, an onchain rewards platform, and Ansa, a stored-value infrastructure provider, reflect the same strategy: bringing payments, stored value, and loyalty closer together.

With Rain behind the payments layer, SeatGeek can focus on the fan experience while giving teams a foundation for more flexible spending and rewards programs.

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Building the future of live events

Game Day Your Way's payment and rewards features are available to select SeatGeek enterprise partners in the United States, with plans to expand to additional teams and venues.

For SeatGeek, the opportunity extends well beyond ticketing. A ticket becomes the starting point for a much deeper relationship between teams and their fans.

And for Rain, Game Day Your Way demonstrates what's possible when wallets, cards, payments, and rewards come together on one platform.

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Interested in building a similar experience?

Learn how Rain's payments and rewards infrastructure can power your next product at sales@rain.xyz.