Fanatics advertisement on the sideboard during the NWSL game between the Houston Dash and the Washington Spirit at Shell Energy Stadium on March 14, 2025 in Houston, Texas.
Aaron M. Sprecher Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Fanatics will replace Panini as the exclusive licensee of FIFA collections in 2031, following an agreement with FIFA regarding licensing rights for World Cup football collections.
The deal will see Fanatics expand its existing licensing portfolio, which includes major sports franchises such as the NFL, NBA and MLB, and is expected to give the company a major foothold in the multibillion-dollar sports collectibles market.
But as Fanatics consolidates its power in the global sports collectibles market — part of a growing $100 billion industry, according to estimates from Morgan Stanley – its aggressive expansion has drawn legal challenges and suspicions of private practice.
Innovation
Under the new FIFA-Fanatics agreement, which begins with this year’s World Cup, players making their debut in the tournament will wear “debut patches” on their first match jersey, which will be removed and distributed as special trading cards when the agreement comes into force in 2031.
The trend began with the 2023 Major League Baseball season, after Fanatics obtained exclusive licenses to produce major league baseball cards in 2021. While Fanatics’ MLB deal was scheduled to run through 2025, it took over the league’s licenses after acquiring Topps’ previous licensee in 2022.
A shortage of such debut cards has seen pieces sell for thousands on online resale platforms like eBay.
The practice of issuing cash cards from trading card packs has since been replicated across franchises such as Formula 1 and the NBA – other sports leagues where Topps, now owned by Fanatics, previously held licenses.
“With Fanatics, we see that they are creating new things in sports collections that offer fans a new, meaningful way to connect with their favorite teams and their favorite players,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement on May 7.
Other moves by enthusiasts in the sports collectibles space are supported by the same spirit of innovation.
In 2025, the conglomerate division opened its first bricks-and-mortar store on London’s Regent Street – a different way of selling, as rivals such as Panini and pre-takeover Topps sell products through distributors or online stores.
Trading cards from the Adrenalyn XL collection of Panini’s FIFA World Cup 2026 launched on March 25, 2026.
Bruno Fahy AFP | Getty Images
Fanatics also tapped celebrities such as Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who appeared at the opening of its Regent Street store, and social media influencer Logan Paul to officiate the wedding.
With its FIFA deal, Fanatics will take exclusive licensing rights to collectables from the flagship event of the world’s most popular sport.
The 64 matches of the 2022 World Cup involved 5 billion fans across all media channels, while the final between France and Argentina reached 1.42 billion viewers, according to official FIFA statistics. By comparison, Super Bowl LIX in 2025 – the most watched sporting event in the US – drew about 127 million viewers, Nielsen estimated.
In a May 7 interview with CNBC, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said the company’s fundraising division alone was expected to raise $5 billion in revenue, while the company — which includes sales, the sportsbook, the prediction market, and the events and entertainment division — was expected to generate $14 billion in revenue.
Troubled water
But Fanatics’ move into the collectibles space has also drawn scrutiny.
Prior to its $500 million purchase of Topps in 2022, Fanatics acquired the MLB, NBA and NFL licenses — all of which were scheduled to begin after Topps’ licenses expire in 2023, 2025, and 2026 respectively.
Many sports franchises licensed by Fanatics also have equity stakes in the company. In 2022, the NFL led the company’s $1.5 billion funding, with a $320 million stake, after its players’ association agreed to licensing terms with the Fanatics last year.
No such terms of equality, however, have been agreed upon under the FIFA-Fanatics agreement, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC, who declined to be named to discuss sensitive matters.
In a March report, the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) wrote that “market consolidation by Fanatics has fundamentally changed the market for trading cards and cards for collectors and fans.”
“Prior to the acquisition of Fanatics, competition between Topps and Italian brand Panini spurred innovation in card design, quality, and pricing. Now, with Panini’s exclusive licenses expired and Topps under Fanatics control, Upper Deck remains the only competitor, and only in hockey,” added AELP.
In 2023, Panini America filed a continuing antitrust lawsuit against Fanatics over what it claimed was an attempt to “manipulate the trading card markets of the Major US Professional Sports Leagues.”
“Without a fix, consumers will suffer, prices will rise, quality will fall, and innovation will be curtailed,” Panini said in court.
In its report, AELP similarly found that collectors were reporting “significant price increases [trading card] boxes and packs, some products doubled in cost within a year after Fanatics took over production.”
With the introduction of more rare products – such as one-off cards – the price of collectibles naturally increases, especially for the most coveted players.
“Historically, children and families have been the biggest consumers,” Ricardo Fort, founder of Fort Consulting, told CNBC in an email. “Today, that remains true of mass-market products, but older collectors have become a larger segment, driven by desire, scarcity, and investment potential.”
But while reduced competition can lead to higher prices and fewer choices, a company with broader rights can also invest more in innovation, technology, authentication and global distribution, he added.
In a recent statement to CNBC, Fanatics described Panini’s 2023 allegations as “absurd,” and added that the company “remains committed to creating the best experience for collectors around the world.” The company, however, declined to comment on the broader claims of monopoly.
Weak competition
After its purchase of Topps, Panini and Upper Deck – the National Hockey League’s trading card manufacturer – remain Fanatics’ loyal competitors.
Although the NHL struck a 10-year deal with Fanatics for the production of the team’s NHL jerseys through 2023, the league also entered into a “long-term” extension of Upper Deck’s trading card licenses, which began in 1990.
In January, Upper Deck also introduced one-off autographed jersey trading cards from the league’s debut game, a similar program to the Fanatics’ first-game cards.
In addition to FIFA, Panini has licenses for a collection of franchises such as the Women’s National Basketball League, NASCAR and LIV Golf.
However, questions hang over Panini’s future.
In 2019, Panini America was sued for failing to fulfill requests for “return cards” — cards that consumers can exchange for certain autographed copies.
These cards, however, could not be issued since Panini did not receive signatures from the eligible athletes during the sale, Larry Centola, an attorney at Martzell, Bickford & Centola, and one of the plaintiffs in the case, told CNBC.
In a phone call with CNBC, Centola said the company suspects more than 10,000 collectors have been affected by Panini’s failure to fill out these salvage cards.
Although the lawsuit was dismissed after the company was denied the class action certification it sought — a decision it chose not to appeal — Centola said it still receives emails from customers with similar experiences — seven years after the lawsuit was first filed.
In October 2025, Reuters, citing familiar sources, reported that Panini had chosen Citi as a financial advisor regarding the possible sale of the company. Citi declined to comment to CNBC on the matter.
“Panini’s lawsuit is just a last-ditch, futile effort by a company that has lost touch with its consumers and has been trying to sell itself for years,” Fanatics wrote in a statement to CNBC.
In 2023, after Panini filed its antitrust lawsuit, the Fanatics argued against Panini, saying “Panini has become complacent, failing to invest in marketing or innovation as it returns profits to its owners in Italy while trying to sell its business for almost a decade.” The case continues.
Panini did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
