Today, Vancouver-based Dapper Labs announced a licensing partnership with UFC to develop blockchain collectibles for mixed martial arts fans. The digital collectibles for the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be available on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain platform.
Dapper Labs is famous for creating the popular CryptoKitties app on Ethereum. Since then, it has worked with the NBA for blockchain collectibles and raised $11 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Warner Music Group, among others.
The company announced its Flow platform six months ago with a focus on building blockchain games, authenticating digital collectibles, and developing fan tokens for music artists and sports personalities. With the agreement with UFC, fans could purchase, trade, and own authentic, limited-edition blockchain collectibles underpinned by Flow.
“Flow makes it easy for any developer to build blockchain apps, games, and digital assets to power them,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs. “Working with the UFC, we are showing what’s possible when you give an engaged fanbase a real ownership stake in the game they love and the communities they’re a part of.”
Meanwhile, Dapper Labs has another blockchain game called Cheeze Wizards, which uses the Battle Royale format. Examples of Battle Royale are the popular games Fortnite and PubG.
Blockchain collectibles is a popular use case in the sporting industry, especially soccer. Animoca Brands is working with Bayern Munich for blockchain collectibles, and also has a blockchain game called F1 Delta Time.
UK-based Fantastec has developed a blockchain trading card game called SWAP and has licensing deals with Arsenal, Real Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund.
Socios.com is another high-profile name in the space and has signed agreements for fan tokens on its platform with various football clubs such as Paris Saint Germain, West Ham, and FC Barcelona, among others. It recently entered a partnership with Lagardère Sports to improve its presence in France and elsewhere around the world.
