With the FIFA World Cup in full swing and North Texas hosting matches at Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium in Arlington), a Frisco venture studio wants to turn the whole region into something fans can play.

SeekAR, an augmented-reality app, opens to a live map of participating spots, where a virtual, FIFA-branded ball might appear outside a restaurant, attraction, or other destination across Dallas-Fort Worth. Scan it, collect it, and see what it unlocks. The free app is on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

The World Cup experience is the app’s latest themed activation on SeekAR, a platform the Frisco studio runs year-round for different brands and events. The studio got its official go-ahead in May, said Dan Sinawat, an advisor to SeekAR and founder and CEO of Dallas-based AI consulting firm AI CONNEX. Sinawat describes the tournament hunt as a collaboration with the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee—one that, according to its website, could steer more than 3 million fans toward local businesses.

A Pokémon Go-style hunt for fans

The mechanics will be familiar to anyone who has played Pokémon Go, the location-based mobile game, Sinawat told us.

Dan Sinawat

A collected item can unlock a discount or other perk at the business where a fan finds it, and players can pose for photos with the virtual objects to share on social media, according to Sinawat. The point, he said, is to help visitors explore Dallas-Fort Worth beyond the stadium district in Arlington and the region’s free fan festivals, which sit miles apart, and into local hot spots and points in between. And make it fun.

FIFA World Cup 26 Dallas, the local host committee for the tournament in North Texas, recently highlighted SeekAR on LinkedIn, saying the platform helps local businesses connect with fans through “interactive, real-world experiences.”

The app’s World Cup activations are already underway. Over the opening weekend, SeekAR teamed with an Ultras Japan welcome party in Plano on June 13, ahead of Japan’s match in Arlington the next day, where fans who downloaded the app and collected an in-app coupon had an opportunity to exchange it for an Ultras Japan jersey or scarf, Sinawat wrote on LinkedIn.

Example screens from SeekAR’s promotional video show, from left, the app’s opening screen, a FIFA World Cup Dallas quest offering a collectible, a reward screen for a World Cup-branded match ball, and an augmented-reality soccer player rendered on a real street. [Screenshots SeekAR video; composite image by DI Studio]

Built in Frisco

SeekAR launched in late 2025 and this spring added a “Worlds” feature, themed collections of quests that switch on and off for specific campaigns and events.

The “patent-pending augmented reality platform” was developed by Nexrage Studios, a Frisco venture studio led by founder and CEO Fraz Jamil.

Founded more than a decade ago as Nexrage Studios Custom Software, Jamil’s Frisco-based venture studio now builds and launches its own software across AI, fintech, sportstech, and gaming. The company recently relocated the studio’s headquarters to The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice campus, with support he credits to the Frisco Economic Development Corp., Plug and Play Tech Center, and GameSquare Holdings.

According to Jamil, the platform previously completed pilot activations tied to the 2025 NFL Draft and 2025 NBA Summer League. More recently, Sinawat said, the studio built an Easter egg hunt “world” with a local business earlier this spring. Activations like these are removed once they are over, he added.

“The journey to get here has been humbling,” Jamil wrote on LinkedIn, citing the work of coordinating with the organizing committee, building the activation infrastructure, and onboarding partners.

Fraz Jamil [Photo via Nexrage Studios]

A familiar name in North Texas sports tech

Jamil sits on the advisory board of the Sports Innovation Space at the University of North Texas, and he was among the speakers on fan engagement at the World Cup Innovation Summit, held at the space and the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters at The Star, an event backed by the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee and the Frisco Economic Development Corp.

Jamil’s work has also earned recognition from colleagues in North Texas sports innovation. Bob Heere, the G. Brint Ryan Professor of Sport Entertainment Management at UNT, recently called him “a wonderful board member and mentor” for the Sports Innovation Space on LinkedIn.

SeekAR was built to reflect how brands reach people now. “The next decade of marketing won’t be built on ads,” Jamil wrote. “It’ll be built on experiences people actually want to step into.”

Getting on the map

In a May interview, Sinawat said the app gives local businesses another way to get in front of visiting fans. Placement starts at $1,000 and runs to $5,000 for packages with more collectibles and custom scavenger hunts, according to SeekAR’s website. The studio is courting area cities and EDCs simultaneously, he said.

Dallas-Fort Worth is hosting nine World Cup matches at Dallas Stadium, the most awarded to any single host venue, according to the Dallas Sports Commission. The goal, Sinawat said, was to create an opportunity for local businesses to connect with visitors converging on the region from around the world.

‘This is just the beginning’

The World Cup-themed experience kicked off June 11 and runs through July 31, according to Jamil.

Sinawat said the company is already thinking about how the platform could be adapted for future events around the world, including the Olympics. “This is just the beginning,” he said.

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