Fanatics Fest NYC delivers glitz and glamour, scores hobby blitz with first sports festival

NEW YORK CITY—Fanatics’ biggest marketing play to date took place in New York City with tens of thousands paying $60 a day to celebrate their love of sports and collectables.

What they experienced over three days, however, was something very much new to the growing sports collectibles hobby and something that could forever change how people experience card and memorabilia shows.

Fanatics Fest NYC, held at the Javits Center in Manhattan from Aug. 16-18, provided collectors with the chance to experience what the global sports brand called the first-ever “immersive sports festival” aimed at “bringing together sports collecting and culture.”

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The dizzying array of sports and entertainment stars, panel discussions and interactive activities made for a very busy time as attendees packed the hall and scrambled from one place to another across the show floor in an effort to take in all the offerings.

Fanatics Fest was the sports version of Comic Con— the comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event—where there was something for everyone. It was that melding of sports and pop culture that Fanatics hopes will ultimately convert millions of sports fans into collectors.

Like Comic Con, some fans came dressed as their favorite athlete or wrestler. The crowds produced long lines—some 75,000 tickets were sold in total—and some took to social media to demand refunds when some athletes skipped out early. 

Nonetheless, the event produced a template for what could be another way to put together sports memorabilia shows.

“I didn’t understand how this didn’t exist in sports,” Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said. “It made no sense to me—zero.”

A YEAR IN THE MAKING

Fanatics acquired Topps just two years ago, turning the company—the world’s largest seller of licensed sports apparel—into the dominant player in the booming trading card space virtually overnight. Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin famously put forth the audacious goal to “10x the hobby.” In order to accomplish that feat, the company has gotten involved in live breaks, sports betting, and now events.

Fanatics Fest took 14 months to plan and took place just weeks after the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland. In addition, it took place on the same weekend as the as the White Plains Card Show—known as the East Coast National— organized by JP’s Sports & Rock Solid Promotions.

In April, Fanatics Events put on its first large-scale fan event in Philadelphia. The WWE World at WrestleMania became the highest-grossing and most-attended fan event in WWE history. Two regional events are being planned for PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28-29 and in Orlando from Nov. 1-3.

Fanatics Fest NYC included sections dedicated to the country’s biggest sports leagues—NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL and MLS—in addition to several areas where live programming was taking place throughout the event. Not to be outdone, there were also pavilions sponsored by WWE and UFC.

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In an exclusive area overlooking the convention hall, Jay-Z’s iconic The 40/40 Club was reimagined for an exclusive lounge experience in partnership with Fanatics Sportsbook, an area that was only open to an invite-only list of athletes, celebrities and Fanatics Sportsbook VIP customers.

Interactive exhibits included an MLB home run derby, NHL slapshot competition and MLS penalty-kick challenge. Another very popular area was the 2,500-seat section on the third level, known as The Theater, where one-on-one interviews and panels discussions were held.

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BEYOND AUTOGRAPHS

The event was highlighted by a series of panels that featured some of the greatest names in sports, including Tom Brady, Derek Jeter and Kevin Durant. Celebrities who made an appearance included actor Ben Stiller and famed film director Spike Lee, both big New York Knicks fans, and rapper Travis Scott.

Like other card shows, Fanatics Fest featured plenty of autograph signers—73 in all—and appearances by notable New York stars, past and present, including Eli Manning, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Jalen Brunson, Henrik Lundqvist, Sabrina Ionescu, Carmelo Anthony, Pete Alonso, Andy Pettitte, and many others.

Also See: Topps releases Triple Logoman card of LeBron, Durant, Curry 

Beyond the glitz, hype and high production value, the show tried to bring fans and athletes together. A part of the event was Fanatics teaming up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that helps make as many critically ill children’s dreams come true.

Chris Sanchez, 12, who was diagnosed with leukemia six years ago, got to meet Brady, get his autograph on a trading card and even catch a ball thrown by the NFL legend.

“I think I’ve been fortunate to be a part of Make-A-Wish for a long time and it’s great to meet the families,” Brady said. “The kids are going through a lot and I think it just helps everyone keep lots of things into perspective.”

Brady said the purpose of Fanatics Fest was “trying to create something really unique and special for the fan experience.”

Another event highlight featured Brady’s former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammate Rob Gronkowski. Not only did the former tight end walk the floor and sign autographs, he also raced a group of children in the 40-yard dash at the NFL pavilion.

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Gronk, who also had a brief wrestling career, also hung out at the WWE booth. He flexed his muscles as fans cheered. He was also presented with a Patriots-themed championship belt.

“Patriots champion right here,” Gronkowski said, lifting the belt over his head. “Shout out to all the Patriots fans here. Can I hear you all?”

When he received a smattering of cheers but mostly boos in response, Gronkowski replied, “The boos are because I’m in New York. I’ll boo you back!”

DEALERS, EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTS

While one side of the three-level convention center was dedicated to fan experiences, the other half had a traditional card show feel dubbed the “Topps Hobby Hall.”

Jesse Gibson, co-host of the Sports Cards Nonsense podcast, said “the only comparison to this show that I can think of is the National.”

“That’s the other big show that’s out there,” he added. “This is not the National. This is not that show. The only person who could put this show on is Michael Rubin. He’s the only person who has access to this much star power.”

While the show did not feature any corporate presence from either Panini or Upper Deck, dealers were selling cards from all manufacturers. In fact, the 250-table show saw large crowds throughout the three days and during the two trade nights.

The card area featured mostly high-end cards. A few dollar boxes and limited cheaper options made it difficult for any new people to get interested in collecting. The inventory also included very little vintage and mostly modern graded cards. PSA was the busiest of all, taking in submissions and grading cards throughout the event.

Another issue was that Fanatics Fest appeared to be two separate shows under one roof—one for cards and the other featuring interactive booths.

“What I want to do is try to figure out how to incorporate collecting into the broader hobby experience,” said Mike Armstrong, senior vice president of Fanatics Events with experience planning New York Comic Con.

In order to do so, Armstrong said he’d like to see “packs in hands at every league booth.”

“I think you can seamlessly integrate the product and the joy of collecting into this experience,” he added.

The event also featured exclusive Topps baseball cards made special for Fanatics Fest. For example, Topps had a couple of box configurations of 2024 Topps Chrome Baseball only available at Fanatics Fest. Among the popular ones were the Big Apple Refractors featuring the New York skyline in the background. All 300 cards in the base set feature this variation. Although not numbered, Topps said that fewer than 50 copies of each card were made.

Another popular exclusive for the event were Fanatics Fest packs that collectors lined up for hours near the Topps booth for a chance to get. There was also a Lids “Hobby Store” that sold mystery boxes called “Player Chase” for $250 that featured three hats and a pack of cards.

Fanatics said they are hopeful that both sports and card collecting can become one for many fans in the years to come.

“You look around and you see people having fun, engaging with the experiential stuff on the sports side of the hall,” Armstrong said. “Then you look around the dealer hall as well, you see people who are finding the thing they are looking for. You are finding the dealers who look like they are having a good show and that’s why we do this.”