EX Sports’s Vision for a Dynamic, Inclusive Sporting Industry
Sports bring people together. They unite us in shared passion and loyalty, and we demonstrate those bonds, in part, through the purchase and display of sports merchandise and memorabilia. These kinds of collectibles have long been an integral part of a fan’s experience.
But the economics of sports today disproportionately favor the most popular leagues and large corporations, many of which have balance sheets in the billions. It is difficult for athletes outside this world — those in smaller, “underdog” sports — to get the support that fans are ready and willing to give them. EX Sports’s mission is to change the paradigm of professional sports.
Today’s Centralized Sports Landscape
In today’s sports world, large companies hold both the licensing rights and the means to produce official sports merchandise. As a result, collectibles such as limited-edition trading cards tend to be limited to the “big money” sports. Athletes and fans in niche sports such as muay thai and jiu jitsu, as well as minor league and amateur sports, are completely left out of collectibles markets.
Moreover, Collecting physical cards can be an inefficient and unsatisfying experience for fans. They are sold in packs, so collectors often end up with multiple copies of the same card. Their values can fluctuate wildly based on scarcity, physical condition, and other factors. Verifying authenticity presents a crucial challenge. And then there’s the question of how much of the revenue from card purchases actually benefits athletes themselves.
These problems are the reason EX Sports was founded. We are reinventing the sporting industry to be more dynamic and more inclusive by providing a simple way for athletes to create and sell provably authentic, tradable tokenized cards directly to fans. The result is a new kind of fan experience that allows people to be closer to their favorite sports idols–and rewards them along the way.
Reinventing the Economics of Sports
We envision a decentralized sports industry, where blockchain technology — which has already had a transformative impact on the financial industry — enables direct financial relationships between athletes and fans.
EX Sports’s goal is to expand the collectibles market to include all sports, not just the biggest ones. By partnering with niche and amateur sports organizations, EX Sports is connecting athletes with the direct support of billions of fans–and by supporting the sports professionals they admire, fans can build and grow their own portfolios of tradable assets. Underlying and empowering this mission is cutting-edge blockchain technology that allows people to mint, trade, sell, and collect tokenized sports cards.
Increasing Participation, Lowering Barriers to Entry
Tokenized sports cards allow fans and athletes to interact directly through digital collectibles. The authenticity of these digital collectibles — a major issue with physical cards — is undeniable: because each EX Sports NFT is blockchain-based, its origins are easily provable. And the value of each and every tokenized card issued on EX Sports will be determined not only by market forces but through an integrated reward-sharing system that distributes recurring payments to card holders.
But tokenized cards are just the first example of our mission in action. Every part of the EX Sports ecosystem is designed to remove intermediaries, lower barriers to entry, and increase opportunities for both athletes and fans.
Athletes can mint collectibles at any stage of their careers, enabling fans to buy collectibles from athletes early in their professional journeys. This way, emerging athletes can get the support they need, while fans can invest in their favorite up-and-coming sports stars.
EX Sports also lets fans support young athletes in developing regions. In early 2019, we established partnerships with United Through Sports to build sports facilities in low-income neighborhoods in Bangkok, and to generate 1,000 collectible tokens to support the children who live there. EX Sports ultimately plans to spread this initiative to ten Asian countries, giving young athletes a chance to learn and develop their skills, and offering fans a way to make a positive impact on their region and the world.
EX Sports is also designed to allow greater access to sports that fans may not have had the financial means to participate in previously. Fan engagement in these sports is often limited to spectating and gambling. But with NFT collectibles on EX Sports, fans can participate in new ways and gain an added sense of ownership.
These diverse examples add up to a common idea: a sporting ecosystem where everyone can be rewarded for their participation. A world where athletes are compensated based on their skill and the passion they instill, regardless of whether a corporate sponsor takes notice or they play in a major international league. In this world, the relationship between athletes and fans goes two ways, and supporters have the opportunity to take real ownership in their athletic passion. In short, a more dynamic, more equitable sporting landscape for everyone involved.
Learn more about EX Sports here.
