FIFA Shoots On Blockchain, Will Indian Sports Catch The Pass?
In May 2025, FIFA began a new chapter by launching its own dedicated blockchain for FIFA Collect, its digital collectables platform.
As of June 2025, FIFA Collect has fully transitioned to the new Avalanche-based blockchain, enriching its tokenised offerings of big match moments and memorabilia.
This might sound like an infrastructure-level change alone, which it is, but at the same time, it’s also a brilliant business plan that Indian sports entities might want to study and emulate.
Let’s first see what changes FIFA made and what its new initiative means for football fans.
A Tactical Reboot
Earlier, FIFA used another blockchain platform for FIFA Collect. Although it was both cost-effective and energy-efficient, it wasn’t compatible with Ethereum’s tools and wallets, which, according to the sports body, restricted its reach.
A platform built in the Ethereum ecosystem is considered to be more versatile because it gets wider wallet support, more developers, and easier integrations.
Therefore, FIFA decided to make that shift, and it is now on the new Avalanche-based chain, which has a strong compatibility layer with Ethereum.
This change gives the sports body the following benefits:
- Full control: FIFA now owns the infrastructure and decides how assets are issued and how games interact.
- Scalability: With over 5 billion fans globally, FIFA needs a system that can handle traffic spikes during games.
- User-friendliness: Fans can now use some popular wallets, such as MetaMask, making it easier to join in.
- Interoperability: The blockchain is designed to work with other platforms — a must for the expanding Web3 universe.
With the new system, FIFA Collect is now offering non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with benefits such as match tickets and exclusive airdrops.
Similarly, in its upcoming mobile game, FIFA Rivals, players can earn and own digital assets like player cards, all tradable as NFTs.
The Indian Scorecard
Back home, Indian sports bodies are easing into the blockchain game, but haven’t yet gone the whole nine yards.
For example, the Indian Super League (ISL) was among the first to experiment, launching NFT player cards and team posters with Terra Virtua in 2021.
Similarly, Pro Kabaddi League teams like Tamil Thalaivas, Bengal Warriors, and Dabang Delhi KC partnered with SportZchain to issue fan tokens and ‘phygital’ NFTs — digital items with tangible benefits such as signed jerseys.
Cricket hasn’t been left behind entirely.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t launched anything blockchain-based, though players such as Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni have released NFTs linked to their career milestones.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), on the other hand, has shown openness to the idea of blockchain.
In May 2022, ICC launched NFTs called ‘ICC Crictos’ where fans could collect and trade celebrated moments from its official events, including outstanding performances by women cricketers such as Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana, as part of an initiative to promote women’s cricket.
Why Indian Sports Should Care
While individual franchises and players experimented with NFTs, the larger bodies remained on the sidelines.
The country’s major sports bodies — BCCI, AIFF, Hockey India — are yet to make any official moves into blockchain.
None has launched its own tokens, games, or fan interaction platforms the way FIFA has.
For Indian sports, getting on the blockchain platform should be less about catching up, and more about finding better ways to engage with fans.
For example, cricket lovers could buy tokenised moments of classic sixes; kabaddi fans in a fantasy game could receive rewards — points, tokens or prizes — based on their performance; and hockey supporters could trade digital collectables tied to benefits such as match tickets or player meet-and-greets.
In fact, blockchain would allow sports bodies to build their own ecosystems where fans can virtually participate in the game.
Follow The Money
Moreover, let’s not leave out the money part. Blockchain opens up fresh revenue streams beyond ticket sales and sponsorships, including fan tokens, merchandise, and interactive gaming.
Blockchain has some data advantages as well because it provides transparent, instant insight into what fans like and how they interact or want to interact. This data could help organisations design better experiences, both online and offline.
Final Whistle
FIFA’s blockchain initiatives may look like an attempt to make things more digital, but it’s mostly about turning passive viewers into active participants.
There’s no reason Indian sports bodies cannot replicate the model, given the talent, the fandom, and the digital appetite in the country.
All that’s missing is the right infrastructure, and perhaps a strong will and clear direction.
The question now is, will they just broadcast the game, or let the fans play too?
This series is brought to you in partnership with Algorand.
