What FIFA's Actual Ticket Data Reveals About How Users Really Behaved: Utility Over Speculation, RTT Over RTB

The Headline Numbers, Unpacked

According to figures shared by Ava Labs, more than 100,000 RTBs have been issued to date, and over 50,000 Club World Cup tickets were distributed bundled with RTBs. Secondary-market volume reached over USD 15 million (about JPY 2.3 billion) for RTTs alone and over USD 25 million (about JPY 3.9 billion) for RTB and RTT combined. By subtraction, RTB-only secondary volume is roughly USD 10 million (about JPY 1.55 billion). A previous report covered the mechanism; here we read user behavior from the transaction data that has actually accumulated.

Behavioral Finding 1: High Issuance, but Restrained Turnover

The ratio of issuance to trading is striking. RTBs sold for USD 299–999 (about JPY 46,000–155,000) each, so 100,000 issued implies a primary sales value in the tens of millions of dollars. Against that, combined secondary turnover is just USD 25 million. The market is not in a state of frenzied flipping; most holders likely held their rights with the intention of actually attending. Despite gambling-related concerns about RTBs, the actual behavioral data skews toward "holding for use."

Behavioral Finding 2: Liquidity Flowed to Utility (RTT), Not Speculation (RTB)

More telling is the breakdown. The RTT—the post-redemption right, one step closer to a real ticket—traded more (over USD 15 million) than the more speculative pre-redemption RTB (about USD 10 million). Users' serious money moved toward concrete attendance value, not the lottery-like speculative layer. This is strong counter-evidence to the "it's just gambling" critique, and it validates designs that place the monetization layer close to actual utility.

Behavioral Finding 3: FIFA's "Walled Garden" Is Actually Monetized

FIFA charges a 15% resale fee on RTT secondary trades. On USD 15 million of volume, that is roughly USD 2.25 million (about JPY 350 million) of value shifted to FIFA from what historically accrued to StubHub or SeatGeek. The goal of "reclaiming the secondary market into its own ecosystem" shows up as concrete revenue in the data. FIFA also constrained behavior where regulatory risk was highest—e.g., limiting Mexican residents' RTT trading to primary value only.

The Blind Spot: It Solved the Secondary Market, but Fans Were Angry About the Primary Market

One crucial fact remains. While RTB/RTT addressed fraud and value leakage in the secondary market, what users were genuinely angry about was primary-market dynamic pricing. The Category 1 final ticket jumped from an initial USD 6,730 to USD 10,990 (about JPY 1.7 million) by April; England's semifinal and final allocations failed to sell out; and after backlash FIFA added a USD 60 (about JPY 9,300) "Supporter Entry Tier." Blockchain solved authentication and resale, but the price and access problems fans reacted to most remained on a different layer.

[Business Development Insights]

1. Don't confuse "units issued" with "turnover rate"—avoid inflating results with entry metrics. The 100,000+ issuance figure is eye-catching, but combined secondary volume was just USD 25 million, with restrained turnover. New businesses need the discipline to clearly separate flashy entry metrics (distribution, sign-ups, issuance) from value-creation metrics (actual trading, continued use), and to verify—by decomposing the data—that splashy launch numbers do not necessarily mean active usage or revenue.
2. Liquidity and money flow toward the layer closest to utility—positioning the monetization layer is decisive. That RTT (closer to a real ticket) out-traded the speculative RTB shows users' serious capital gravitates toward concrete benefit rather than abstract options. For new products, placing fees and monetization mechanisms as close as possible to where the customer realizes actual value is the shortest path to maximizing both liquidity and revenue.
3. Continuously check the gap between the problem you can solve and the problem the customer most cares about. Here, blockchain solved secondary-market fraud and leakage, but users reacted most strongly to primary-market price and access. Even a technically excellent solution earns little credit if it misses the center of the customer's pain. In the conception phase of any new business, teams must keep re-examining problem framing from "what is the customer struggling with most right now," rather than being pulled by the sophistication of the solution.

[Sources]

• CoinDesk, "FIFA wanted Avalanche's blockchain to help curb World Cup ticket scalping. Here's how it's going" https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/06/17/fifa-wanted-avalanche-s-blockchain-to-help-curb-world-cup-ticket-scalping-here-s-how-it-s-going
• FIFA Collect, "RTB and Conversion Process" https://collect.fifa.com/pages/rtb-conversion-process
• incrypted, "FIFA Uses Avalanche Blockchain for 2026 World Cup Ticket Sales as Volume Surpasses $25 Million" https://incrypted.com/en/fifa-uses-avalanche-blockchain-2026-world-cup-ticket-sales-volume-surpasses-25-million/
• ESPN, "FIFA slashes some 2026 World Cup ticket prices after backlash" https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/47325927/fifa-2026-world-cup-ticket-prices-supporter-tier
• NPR, "FIFA's World Cup ticket sales outraged fans. Now they are under investigation" https://www.npr.org/2026/05/28/nx-s1-5836514/2026-world-cup-fifa-ticket-prices
• The Family Travel Guy, "How I Used FIFA Collect to Secure 2026 FIFA World Cup Tickets" https://www.thefamilytravelguy.com/blog/how-i-used-fifa-collect-to-secure-2026-fifa-world-cup-tickets