Not sure if y'all got this email yesterday, but FIFA is rolling out some sort of weird collectible / game / pay-to-play scheme for their ticket selection process.

Quote:

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USA94 - 30 years later
The World Cup that changed the game
Collect the history of the FIFA World Cup and get rewarded with the chance of buying 2 tickets for the 2026 edition.
Celebrate the FIFA World Cup USA 1994, the tournament that put the United States on the football map, with FIFA Collect's exclusive 30th anniversary drop. As we look ahead to the FIFA World Cup 2026 returning to North America and Mexico, relive USA '94's iconic moments through digital collectibles. Open packs, complete challenges, and earn a unique reward - the chance to buy tickets for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Upon completing the challenge you will get a right to buy 2 tickets for a match that will be assigned randomly to you, there is a total of 460 pairs available (meaning 920 RTBs!). One every three RTBs will be for the second or third game of team Mexico, all the others will be for other group phase games that will be assigned randomly to you. Once the calendar is announced, you will know which game your RTB corresponds to. RTBs will be tradeable on the secondary market in case you are looking to watch a different match.
For more details, visit the detailed drop's page: https://collect.fifa.com/usa-94

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Info: https://collect.fifa.com/usa-94 (currently broken?)

Anyway, I tried to buy a pack (because I'm likely a sucker) but the website was down. Anyone else get this email or have luck getting the website to work?

We can also use this thread to talk about other ticket-related talk as the 2026 WC approaches.

So what if I live in Houston and get assigned a game in ny or cali?

This some dumb shiz

This is bull****, it should just be a free raffle, to get the chance to buy the tickets to games

gambochaman said:

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So what if I live in Houston and get assigned a game in ny or cali?

This some dumb shiz

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They say you could trade with someone else who has an RTB.

The whole thing is crazy and seems like it's designed to screw people who don't read well. What are the "previous drops" of collectibles they mention? Because if you don't have one of those, you ain't getting an RTB.

Bare minimum, you need 1 "previous drop" and all 15 unique cards from this release… sold in packs of 3, that means you'd probably need to be buy at least 10 of them to have a decent chance (and even then would likely have to buy/trade for a couple).

Best deal on here is the $999 pack that gives you a guaranteed RTB for the opening match at the Azteca, but I'd bet $999 that all 115 of those are already gone.

Yeah, my purchased two packs aren't enough to get me past challenge two, so if I wanted to make it further, I'd have to buy up single moments off the marketplace. Which itself entails basically buying crypto currency to make that exchange. -__-

Example: To complete my level two challenge, I'll need at least two epic level cards and one iconic level card. Epics you can buy on the marketplace for around $25 apiece. Iconics? There's only one available and bidding on that starts at $450. It's dumb and I knew that going in, but it helps to complain about how dumb is it.

What's weird is I don't think I've seen any media member talking or writing about any of this anywhere.

Did I miss something or is this only for Mexico tickets?

What I'm reading is wait until tickets are released and fork over 1-month's salary and buy on StubHub.

It's very vaguely worded, but from what I gather, this "contest" is for rights to buy tickets, but also some of those specific games are Mexico matches.

Which makes me think they'll have some other super gimmicky and expensive thing later for rights to US matches.

jeffk said:

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It's very vaguely worded, but from what I gather, this "contest" is for rights to buy tickets, but also some of those specific games are Mexico matches.

Which makes me think they'll have some other super gimmicky and expensive thing later for rights to US matches.

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Yeah that was my thought too. This is the gimmick for Mexico fans and the next one will be for US fans.

Based on what I could tell about the secondary market when I looked last night - I think you could cobble together all the things you need for an RTB for about $700. Which, if I were a Mexico fan, I'd be tempted to pursue, even though it's only a 1/3 chance that the RTB you get will be Mexico. If they do something similar for the US, I'm gonna be tempted to be dumb.

I loathe the level of gimmick going on here. Having to play with collectibles, and having to use crypto to do so.

The best deal they had was the 115 slots they gave for $999 which guaranteed a RTB for the opening match without having to collect a set. I'd happily pay that to be guaranteed a RTB for the US opener.

I received this email too and passed on the opportunity.

New email out: $500/ticket deposit for ticket-inclusive hospitality packages, premium seating, luxury food and beverage, exclusive meet and greets.

Tempting. I'd be curious to know what the full price is for these. I suppose worst case, they get to have my deposit for 12-18 months and then I get a refund because I don't want to pay for the full package.

Edit to add link:
https://www.fifa.com/en/hospitality

deadbq03 said:

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Tempting. I'd be curious to know what the full price is for these. I suppose worst case, they get to have my deposit for 12-18 months and then I get a refund because I don't want to pay for the full package.

Edit to add link:
https://www.fifa.com/en/hospitality

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Same, that's what's holding me back.