Ticket Tokenization! UEFA to Issue One Million Tickets Using Blockchain

According to an official announcement on February 17, 2020, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will distribute over one million football match tickets through its blockchain-based app.

UEFA Blockchain Tickets

According to the latest press release from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), they will be distributing over one million tickets for the 2020 European Championship starting in June to football fans via an app based on blockchain technology.

The 2020 European Championship consists of 51 matches with a total of 2.5 million tickets to be sold to fans from over 200 countries. The system is designed to prevent ticket fraud and duplicates, allowing fans to enter the stadium simply by scanning the QR code of their mobile ticket at the entrance, without the need to visit ticket counters before the match starts.

The organization added that all tickets purchased since December 2019 will be recorded on the blockchain. These tickets will be in use from May 2020 and a new UEFA EURO 2020 mobile ticketing app will be launched on Android and iOS platforms at that time.

"Automatically distributing mobile tickets to fans a few days before the match will greatly enhance the fan experience, as fans will no longer need to go to ticket counters to exchange for physical tickets."

While some may argue that electronic tickets have been in use for years and do not require blockchain technology to function, for large-scale events like those organized by UEFA that span across multiple countries, a conventional centralized electronic ticketing system poses certain obstacles. Furthermore, using blockchain ensures the uniqueness of tickets, allowing fans to transfer tickets to others through the system without worrying about the resale of duplicate tickets in the secondary market.

VIP Ticket Tokenization

It is worth noting that this development comes less than two months after UEFA's initial adoption of blockchain technology. According to previous reports, UEFA partnered with mobile wallet service provider AlphaWallet to tokenize 20,000 VIP tickets for the 2020 European Football Championship. Victor Zhang, CEO of AlphaWallet, stated in an interview at that time:

"VIPs can use this ticket to access discounts on accommodation, transportation, shopping, and more. Once tokenized, users do not need to go through lengthy verification processes to validate the ticket, or create a new account for each service."

However, it should be emphasized that in today's press release, UEFA did not mention whether these one million tickets were issued using AlphaWallet's technology.

Related Reading

• English football clubs announce new partnerships, allowing fans to support players through blockchain.
• FC Barcelona ventures into cryptocurrency, collaborates with Chiliz to launch BAR token.

Join our Telegram channel for the latest updates on fintech, blockchain insights, and industry examples!