A cold beer at a football match has never been cheap. But the 2026 FIFA World Cup, spread across the US, Canada, and Mexico, is threatening to push stadium concession prices into genuinely absurd territory, with a single cup of beer potentially costing fans more than £15.

That number isn’t hypothetical. During a recent warm-up match between England and New Zealand at one of the tournament’s host venues, domestic beer prices ranged from $16.75 to $18 per cup, which converts to roughly £12.50 to £13.44. Those are pre-tournament prices. The expectation is that World Cup matchday pricing will be even steeper.

The 2026 tournament is the largest ever staged, featuring 48 teams competing across 104 matches in three countries.

Fan backlash has been swift. Reports from The Sun highlighted widespread outrage after the England-New Zealand friendly, with supporters calling the pricing exploitative.

FIFA’s crypto play: Kraken, Avalanche, and Chiliz

On June 9, 2026, FIFA announced that Kraken would serve as the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the World Cup. FIFA is using Avalanche’s blockchain for its ticketing platform, a move designed to reduce fraud and scalping while creating verifiable digital ticket ownership. Separately, the organization has deepened its relationship with Chiliz, the platform behind fan tokens that let supporters vote on minor club decisions, access exclusive content, and participate in gamified experiences.

Avalanche’s ticketing integration addresses a genuine problem. Counterfeit tickets and predatory resale markets have plagued major sporting events for decades. A verifiable on-chain ticket that can be transferred but not duplicated is a practical use case, not a speculative one.

The Argentine Football Association already has a fan token on the Chiliz platform, and the tournament could drive meaningful transaction volume if even a small percentage of global football fans engage with the ecosystem.

What this means for crypto investors

If Avalanche’s ticketing system processes millions of transactions smoothly across 104 matches in three countries, it becomes a case study for other leagues and federations considering blockchain infrastructure. Any technical failures, whether slow transaction times, wallet issues, or user confusion, would be amplified by the global spotlight.

Platforms like Polymarket have already demonstrated massive volume around political events. A 48-team World Cup with group stages, knockouts, and individual match outcomes creates hundreds of discrete betting markets that crypto-native prediction platforms could see significant activity spikes around throughout the tournament’s June-July window.