The issue of "ticket sales difficulties" mainly lies in FIFA's ticket sales mechanism, which also exposes the side effects of FIFA's radical commercialization experiment on the ticketing system for this World Cup.

Written by: Zen, PANews

At 3 AM Beijing time on June 12, the highly anticipated 2026 FIFA World Cup will officially kick off in Mexico City.

This World Cup is hailed as an unprecedented super event, with 48 teams participating and a total of 104 matches played across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Unless something unexpected happens, this will be the World Cup with the highest commercial revenue in history.

However, on the eve of the opening, this World Cup is facing a predicament of difficult ticket sales. According to the Financial Times, with only the final stages remaining before the opening match, approximately 180,000 group stage tickets for the World Cup are still available for resale. For a premier event long regarded as a global spectacle, this contrast is indeed glaring.

This is not because the World Cup itself has lost its global appeal; in fact, the betting industry has touted this World Cup as the "biggest betting opportunity" in history. As of June 11, the investment amount in event contracts regarding the World Cup champion on the prediction market Polymarket has approached $2 billion. Such a massive amount of funding has already been invested before the tournament starts, indicating the event's popularity.

Therefore, the issue of "difficult ticket sales" relates more to FIFA's ticket sales mechanism, also exposing the side effects of FIFA's radical commercialization experiment in this World Cup ticketing system.

FIFA's Ticketing "Snafu": Buy Tickets, First Buy "Digital Collectibles"

One of the most controversial ticketing arrangements for this World Cup is FIFA's sale of the so-called "Right-To-Buy" (RTB) through the FIFA Collect platform.

Different from traditional ticketing products, RTB is a "digital right" or "digital collectible" designed around the qualification for acquiring World Cup tickets, issued and circulated through the FIFA Collect digital collectible platform, essentially functioning as an NFT. The FIFA Collect platform was initially run on the Algorand blockchain and migrated to FIFA Blockchain, built on Avalanche technology, in May 2025.

According to FIFA Collect's official explanation, holding an RTB only allows fans the opportunity to purchase tickets for a specific match within a designated time frame. Each RTB indicates how many tickets the holder can purchase in the future and for which match or event, but it does not include tickets itself.

This mechanism splits the ticket buying process into two steps: first, selling scarcity, and second, selling the actual tickets. However, when fans purchase an RTB, they often do not know the final seating area or full ticket price and cannot fully assess the future value of this "priority."

In terms of pricing, RTB does not have a unified price; it varies based on the importance of the corresponding match, the number of tickets available for purchase, and market supply and demand conditions. Previously, on the FIFA Collect platform, RTB prices for different matches ranged from dozens to hundreds of dollars, with some hot match RTBs selling for even higher prices on the secondary market.

According to British sports business media SportsPro, FIFA has already made tens of millions of dollars in revenue from these RTB sales.

In a scenario where tickets are extremely scarce and prices are not yet fully clear, this design to encourage fans to pay early may make some sense. However, when the official platform still has a large number of tickets available, the awkwardness of the RTB becomes apparent – if tickets are not as difficult to obtain as imagined, the rationale for spending hundreds of dollars in advance to purchase "buying rights" is re-evaluated.

Not only is it expensive, but it's also expensive in a way that is opaque and constantly changing.

This tournament primarily focuses on the U.S. market, which is the world's most mature and also the most expensive live sports entertainment market. Events like the NFL, NBA, and MLB have long adopted business models such as high ticket prices, suites, dynamic pricing, and secondary markets. Naturally, after FIFA entered this market, it aimed to align the World Cup's pricing with these models.

FIFA has adopted dynamic pricing or variable pricing models for this World Cup, meaning ticket prices can be adjusted continuously based on demand, inventory, and sales phases. Early on, officials emphasized that some group stage tickets start at $60, but this low-priced tier is limited. More often, ticket prices exceed fans' expectations significantly; some hot group stage matches can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars, with elimination rounds and finals priced even more exorbitantly.

It is reported that the actual cost of tickets for this World Cup is about 2 to 4 times that of the previous Qatar World Cup, with prices for popular matches, the opening match, and finals reaching 4 to 7 times higher. The problem lies in the fact that the World Cup is not an ordinary commercial league. Its audience is not just affluent local sports consumers but rather ordinary fans from around the world. Many fans, in order to support their national teams, need to travel across continents, book flights and hotels in advance, as well as incur costs for city transportation. For these fans, the ticket prices are only a part of the total cost but have become the most uncontrollable part.

Even more frustrating for fans is the opacity of ticket sales. European fan organizations and consumer groups have complained to FIFA, stating that FIFA has not fully disclosed how many tickets remain at each price tier or specific seat locations in the early stages. Some fans were unable to fully confirm seating views and locations when purchasing tickets but had to pay high fees. This asymmetry of information has severely amplified the feeling of being "manipulated."

Currently, FIFA's ticketing mechanism has not only sparked commercial disputes but has also attracted public regulatory scrutiny. Relevant authorities in New York and New Jersey have begun investigations into the World Cup ticketing, focusing on issues such as seating information, ticket sales promotion, and whether there is a so-called "artificial scarcity."

Official Resale Platform Amplifies Price Anxiety

FIFA has specifically launched an official resale platform for this World Cup, theoretically to allow fans to buy and sell tickets in a safe environment, reducing fraud and black market transactions. However, while this platform has improved transaction security, it has not enhanced the ticket purchasing experience for fans.

European fan associations and consumer organizations have criticized FIFA for charging fees to both buyers and sellers in the official resale, allowing FIFA to continue profiting from subsequent transactions even after the initial sale of tickets. According to a report by the Financial Times quoting ticketing rules, when sellers sell tickets on the FIFA official resale platform, they must pay about a 10% service fee, while buyers must pay an additional approximately 17% fee and other associated costs.

In other words, if a ticket is resold through the official platform, the total fees borne by both parties are close to 27% of the ticket price. This means FIFA enjoys high ticket price revenues in the primary market while also capturing fees from the resale market.

As of now, FIFA is still selling tens of thousands of group stage tickets. For those hoping to profit from resale by buying tickets at high prices, even selling at original prices will still result in actual losses after deducting platform fees.

Of course, the 180,000 tickets available for resale will not lead to a massive number of empty seats at this World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated at a press conference before the opening that over 6 million tickets have been sold for this event, indicating that demand exceeds initial expectations by "10 times or more." Popular matches, host nation matches, knockout rounds, and finals will still attract huge interest. As matches begin, emotions heat up, and teams' advancement conditions become clearer, some inventory may also be consumed.

But the significance of this controversy lies in the reminder that even though overall sales for the World Cup remain strong, this event proves that fan enthusiasm does not equate to an unlimited willingness to pay; ticket prices and the ticketing mechanism still have a boundary that should not be easily crossed. The World Cup has global influence, but that does not mean FIFA can endlessly exploit this emotional premium.