Beyond new revenue opportunities, the model gives FIFA more visibility into who ultimately attends its events. In the traditional ticketing ecosystem, much of that information is controlled by secondary marketplaces.
“The actual administrator of those tickets, FIFA, has no idea who the people are buying,” Carbonaro said. “That data sits with SeatGeek, StubHub, Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats.” He argued that FIFA Collect’s RTB and RTT system gives FIFA greater insight into how ticket rights change hands within its own ecosystem, rather than relying on third-party platforms that typically control the customer relationship.
With RTBs and RTTs, FIFA can better track how fans move through the ticketing process while keeping personal information offchain and using blockchain records as a verification mechanism.
That data component may ultimately prove as valuable as the ticketing functionality itself. Sports organizations increasingly view direct fan relationships as strategic assets, particularly as AI tools make first-party data more valuable.
Whether FIFA’s ticketing model becomes a template for future tournaments remains to be seen. Critics could argue that introducing tradable purchase rights simply creates another layer between fans and tickets.
Either way, the World Cup offers a glimpse of where blockchain adoption may be heading next. Instead of asking consumers to embrace crypto, projects like FIFA Collect are attempting to hide it altogether. And for Avalanche, that may be the most important test of all.