EX Sports, Binance NFT to Drop First Urbanball NFT Mystery Box Collection

Binance NFT is joining forces with EX Sports to roll out the first-ever Urbanball Mystery Box NFT collection exclusively on Binance NFT. The first drop from the Urbanball collection will go live on May 3, 2022, with an initial game offering (IGO) planned for later this year. The project aims to celebrate underdog athletes and overlooked talents in the world of sports, while also bringing to life the world’s first play-to-earn football mobile game.

Bringing Overlooked Talents to the Limelight 

Binance NFT, the digital collectibles marketplace of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain ecosystem, is joining forces with EX Sports, a full circle fan engagement platform centered around NFTs, live streaming, gaming, and e-commerce, to launch the first-ever unique Urbanball NFT collection.

Per a press release shared with crypto.news, the project is aimed at celebrating the ‘underdog’ athletes and often overlooked talents in the world of sports, while also birthing the world’s first play-to-earn street football mobile game powered by the BNB Chain.

This first-of-its-kind digital collectibles concept is led by Sean Garnier, a two-time world freestyle football champion and internet sensation, who currently has 19 million social media followers and two billion video views. Garnier has teamed up with the EX Sports fan engagement ecosystem to give real-life athletes increased exposure and a new potential income stream through innovative NFTs with utility.

The Urbanball Exclusive Mystery Box NFT Collection 

The Urbanball NFTs consist of two major card types: character and skill cards. Both cards are required to play the game.

Character cards are based on real-life Urbanball street football players, who have made a name for themselves in the game by winning and impressing at 1v1 football competitions in their home countries. These tournaments are hosted by San Garnier, a two-time Freestyle Football Champion, whose character will also be included in the exclusive NFT drop as the top draw.

Skill cards, on the other hand, consist of various football techniques that can be used to enhance the performance of characters in the game.  

The Urbanball play-to-earn game will come with a variety of game modes where users will have their NFT characters compete in PVP and PVE battles, with winners earning special rewards. The first NFT Mystery Box drop is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, 2022, at exactly 3 pm GST.

The team has made it clear that there will be multiple NFT drops throughout 2022, with an official initial game offering (IGO) to be conducted in December 2022.

Each Urbanball NFT drop will come with new characters based on high performers and winners of real-life 1v1 football tournaments, such as Adonias Fonseca, Mehdi Amri, and Radheya Marca, top athletes who have a combined social media followership of over five million.

The real-life tournaments will give millions of talents the opportunity to feature in the game, whether they are in the favelas of Brazil, slums of Malaysia, or Paris’ urban jungle. 

The team wrote:

“The collaboration between Binance NFT and EX Sports developed because both teams recognize the potential to nurture up and coming talents, whilst also supporting the growth of niche sports. EX Sports aggregate sports IP and aims to create an ecosystem with real beneficial utility for underdog athletes.”

EX Sports and Sean Garnier pre-launched the Urbanball world’s first freestyle football NFTs during the Gitex 2021 event in the Dubai World Trade Center. The same venue also hosted the recently concluded Binance’s Blockchain Week. 

Additionally, EX Sports recently hosted a three-day tournament in collaboration with Dubai Tourism and Redbull. The competition was graced by five of the world’s top street football talents. Each of the athletes was scouted and flown into Dubai from a different country and many of them will also be part of the initial NFT drop on Binance NFT, enabling them to earn royalties via NFTs.

EX Sports wrote:

“Our core mission is to promote athletes in ‘niche’ sports, such as Muay Thai, Ju-Jitsu, powerlifting, and street football, who have huge fan bases but can often be overlooked in comparison to the likes of Premiership players, NFL pros, and NBA athletes, who are currently lining their pockets in the new and lucrative world of NFTs and digital collectibles.EX Sports is fighting for these underdogs.”