Dubai’s EX Sports and Séan Garnier issue world’s first freestyle football NFTs

Dubai-based digital collectable platform, EX Sports, is collaborating with French freestyle footballer Séan Garnier to issue the world’s first freestyle football NFTs.

Fans can now purchase packs of original Garnier digital collectibles on the EX platform.

Garnier widely regarded as the “world’s best urbanballer,” has developed a freestyle football technique that combines music, breakdance and somersaults, with elements of football and basketball.

Fans can collect and trade NFTs featuring clips of Garnier performing some of his signature moves by purchasing the new packs.

Garnier chose to issue tokenised video clips rather than still images because of the potential use cases. “NFTs should be more than just pictures,” he said. “They should have a real purpose.” Each of his collectibles will link to a full tutorial on how to master the skill featured in the corresponding video clip. “The ultimate purpose of my NFTs will be that the owner can use them in games to train their avatars.”

He began developing this style after suffering a series of injuries early on in his career and since then, his moves and routines have earned him numerous titles, sponsorships, awards and appearances at events around the world.

Garnier has more than 4.7 million followers on Instagram, 67,00 followers on Twitter, and 3.38 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Nevertheless, there are more than 90 officially recognized Olympic Sports that still don’t offer sports cards. Sports collectibles have generally been dominated by “big money” sports with billions of dollars at their disposal. It’s easy to find physical sports cards for athletes in the NFL, NBA, EPL, and other major sports federations. But athletes in niche sports are mostly left out of the collectibles market.

EX Sports provides athletes with the opportunity to create and sell digital collectibles on their own terms. Each year, athletes can create up to 1,000 limited-edition digital NFTs, a percentage of which are retained by the athlete to hold or sell anytime they choose.

The remainder of the cards are sold in packs in exchange for EXS, the platform’s native digital asset. EX Sports is open to any athlete at any stage of their career – its network of partner sports federations spans across sports categories and skill levels.

Fans who buy digital collectibles on EX Sports can store them in digital albums, trade them with other fans, or sell them for EXS. Soon, fans won’t have to sell their digital collectibles in order to unlock their value. EX Sport’s revenue-sharing model will allow NFT holders to earn EXS each time someone views a video of an athlete whose card they hold.

“I’ve chosen to work with EX Sports – over all the marketplaces – because I’m aligned with their vision and inspired to help build a marketplace for grassroots sports,” said Garnier. “I’m a freestyler, so the passion and thought they’ve put behind a marketplace for ‘underdog’ athletes like me is amazing. That’s why I want to be part of the ecosystem.”

Toli Makris, EX Sports’s founder and chief executive at EX Sports, makes a case for NFT and its role in sports. “The strongest and most powerful use case for NFTs isn’t about lining the pockets of the wealthy. It’s about empowering the little guy – the ‘underdog,’” said Makris. “That’s why we think Séan’s story is hand-in-glove with our mission.”

For more information on EX Sports, click here