Toli Makris & Sean Garnier discuss how technology can evolve sports at Gitex

2022 Oct, 26     Abu Dhabi, UAE

On the 12th October, EX Sports CEO, Toli Makris, and Urbanball CEO, Sean Garnier, took to the TDeFi stage at the GITEX Global 2022 tech and start-up event in Dubai to share their views and experiences of how blockchain technology can help sports evolve in the digital era. A major focus of their discussions during the conference centered on the Urbanball project that they have been collaborating on for the past year.

With Urbanball having already overseen three successful NFT drops on Binance NFT for the UK, Belgium, and Brazil, the two forward-thinking CEOs announced that they will be moving the Urbanball project forward with GCC qualifiers to be held alongside the Gumball 3000 supercar festival at Burj Park in Dubai on 12th November, connecting the two-day extravaganza of sports to their social impact story. The pair also announced that they will be releasing the Urbanball play and earn game next month, starting with the trick shot mode.

EX Sports is a full circle fan engagement platform centered on an NFT Marketplace, Live Streaming, Gaming and E-Commerce. A core mission of EX Sports is to promote athletes in ‘niche’ sports, such as muay Thai, jiu jitsu, powerlifting and street football. Although many of the leading athletes in these sports have huge fan bases, they are largely overlooked in comparison to athletes in more traditional or established sports, such as English Premier League players, NFL pros and NBA athletes, many of whom are currently seeing significant financial rewards from their ventures into the new and lucrative world of NFTs and digital collectibles. With a focus on leveling the playing field, EX Sports is committed to fighting for these ‘underdogs’.

A comprehensive street football ecosystem, Urbanball features a play-to-earn mobile game, NFT collectables, 1-vs-1 ‘Fightball’ tournaments, micro-events, e-commerce and talent management, all of which are fully interconnected. Led by Sean Garnier, the athletes who have signed to the brand include former and current world Panna and Freestyle football champions, who together have more than 30 million followers in their social media accounts, reflecting the EX Sports philosophy of supporting underrepresented but hugely popular athletes in niche sports that tend to be overlooked by the mainstream media.