Latest news with #FanaticsFest
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fanatics Fest NYC announces exclusive Topps Chrome Cactus Jack set
Shohei Ohtani will be one of the players featured in the Topps Chrome Baseball collaboration with Cactus Jack. (Credit: Fanatics) Fanatics Fest NYC announced its third and final trading card exclusive Friday with a collaboration between Topps Chrome Baseball and musician Travis Scott's Cactus Jack brand. The release will only be available in-person at Fanatics Fest on Friday, June 20. The three-day show will take place at the Javits Center from June 20-22. Advertisement ATTEND FANATICS FEST NYC: According to Fanatics, the set will feature 50 total subjects made up of 49 top MLB players as well as Scott. Shohei Ohtani, Paul Skenes, Roki Sasaki and James Wood are among the included players. Hobby boxes of 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball x Cactus Jack will retail for $500 and contain two packs per box and four cards per pack. Parallels range from Gold Refractors /50, Orange Refractors /25, Black Refractors /10, Red Refractors /5 and the Superfractor 1/1. The Cactus Jack drop is the third exclusive trading card set that will only be available in-person at Fanatics Fest, joining a 2025 Topps Series 2 Baseball set and a 2025 Topps Formula 1 set. Advertisement The collaboration with Scott's Cactus Jack brand is the third for Fanatics over the last year following an exclusive trading card set at last year's Fanatics Fest NYC and the 2025 Topps Chrome WWE Cactus Jack WrestleMania set, which was only available to WWE World attendees in April. The first Fanatics Fest collaboration with Scott saw significant secondary-market movement immediately after release, with some collectors paying upward of 500% of the original retail price for sealed boxes. Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
LeBron James teams with Tom Brady and Victor Wembanyama for next episode of The Shop, gets a spot at Fanatics Fest in NYC
LeBron James teams with Tom Brady and Victor Wembanyama for next episode of The Shop, gets a spot at Fanatics Fest in NYC (Images via Getty Images) LeBron James disrupted the entertainment scene with his barber shop-style show, The Shop, which has earned a massive viewer base since its launch. The Shop is getting a starry lineup for the next episode with Tom Brady and Victor Wembanyama taking the hot seats. Another piece of good news for The Shop's fans is that the show has secured a spot at Fanatics Fest, the largest conglomeration of sports, culture, and entertainment in NYC. LeBron James gets starry lineup for next episode of The Shop LeBron James capitalized on his marketing abilities and made a significant impact on the entertainment world when he launched The Shop, a TV talk show. It tasted decent success and has become a regular entertainer. There is something new brewing at The Shop for the next episode, which is expected to be a blockbuster. The Shop has announced that the next show is going to be aired in June. It will be graced by the basketball stars like Tom Brady and Victor Wembanyama. 'Always been a dawg' | LeBron, P.J. Tucker, Draymond, & Lisa Leslie Talk Dawg Mentality | THE SHOP In addition to the starry lineup, there is another announcement regarding the show. It is going to be a part of Fanatics Fest, the largest conglomeration of sports, pop culture, and entertainment in NYC. It is indeed a proud moment for The Shop's makers, as the fest serves as a rendezvous of the biggest celebrities and gives enhanced visibility to sports and entertainment personalities. Recapping journey of LeBron James' TV Show The Shop The Shop premiered on HBO United States in 2018. It was created by Paul Rivera, who brought in basketball legend LeBron James and businessman Maverick Carter, who interviewed celebrity guests and sports personalities to give fans a complete entertainer. In its fifth season in 2022, the show debuted on YouTube. The typicality of the show is that it bases the barber shop talks as its content. LeBron once shared that he was always intrigued by the candid discussions on sports, culture, music, politics, etc, that take place in barber shops and envisioned a show that could grab that essence. That is how The Shop was conceived. LeBron James On Teaming Up with Bronny & Tems and Damson Idris Discuss A Potential Collab | THE SHOP The Shop recently featured Kevin Hart, who shared his childhood memories and his fascination with football during his growing up years. The initial episodes of the show were filmed in barber shops of Toronto, New Orleans, and so on. With growing popularity, the show drew the best of the names from the sports, TV, music, and entertainment world. Also Read: NBA legend LeBron James flaunts his dance moves in his offseason gateway LeBron James was recently captured burning the dance floor with his stylish moves. It led to various discussions and questioned his recent injury that he suffered during Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
SGA wins big...by gifting Rollies before tariff hike
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, left, presents the Michael Jordan Most Valuable Player trophy to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prior to Game 2 of an NBA basketball Western Conference Finals playoff series between against the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings) Collectors! We're less than a month away from Fanatics Fest and news is starting to trickle out about what collectors can expect. Last week Michael Rubin + team announced Fanatics Games , a competition (think pitching accuracy and 'closest to the pin'-type challenges) pitting regular Janes and Joes against celebrities like Tom Brady, Druski, Logan Paul and Kevin Hart, with the winner taking home $1M. And just yesterday LeBron James announced that he'll be hosting his podcast, 'The Shop', from the Fanatics Fest show floor, with special guests like the aforementioned Brady, Victor Wembanyama and Kai Cenat. Advertisement If you're planning to be in NYC June 16-23 for the festivities, make sure to come hang with the Mantel team at Bleecker Trading, where we'll be throwing trade nights and more every night after the show closes down. The Baseball Hall of Fame has debuted 'Getting the Nod', a new bobblehead exhibit showcasing highlights from Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria's personal collection. The exhibit features hundreds of nodding likenesses, from legends like Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige to modern stars like Clayton Kershaw and Giancarlo Stanton. A human-sized Willie Mays bobblehead anchors the display, paying homage to the 1999 giveaway that helped reignite the bobblehead craze. A lineup of Hall of Famers are slated to attend the opening, which celebrates the evolution of bobbleheads from kitschy souvenirs to collectible snapshots of baseball history. The Baseball Hall of Fame has debuted 'Getting the Nod', a new bobblehead exhibit showcasing highlights from Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria's personal collection. (Sports Collectors Daily) To fight patch swapping fraud, Upper Deck is introducing tamper-proof encased rookie patch auto cards in its upcoming 'The Cup' NHL set, releasing next week. Each card will be sealed, serial numbered, and linked to a QR code that displays multi-angle images of the original patch for verification. This new verification system, dubbed 'The Authority Authenticator', aims to restore confidence in relic cards, which are sometimes altered with more desirable patches to boost resale value. While grading complications may pop up, the company hopes its 'U' (uncirculated) designation on the sealed cards becomes a value marker. If successful, this approach could reshape collector expectations and fraud prevention across the hobby. Speaking of patches! Topps is expanding its Debut Patch program to include the UFC, with the first patch appearing at ESPN FN 189 this weekend, featuring Andreas Gustafsson. The Debut Patch cards have resonated with collectors by offering a true one-of-one tied to a specific debut moment, something increasingly rare in a market oversaturated with 'one-of-one' variants. After Gustafsson's fight, the patch from his walkout jersey will be embedded into a signed card for a future UFC x Topps release. This move continues Fanatics' strategy of anchoring physical collectibles to verifiable, culturally significant moments in real time. Swiss watch exports surged 18% year-over-year in April, hitting $3B, with the U.S. accounting for a 33% of that total. The spike was largely fueled by new tariffs on Swiss imports, prompting retailers and collectors to stockpile before a potential 10–41% price hike. High-end models made from precious metals and bimetallic materials led the charge. However, outside the U.S., global exports dropped 6.4%, with sharp declines in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The buying frenzy appears to be more about avoiding tariffs than a surge in organic demand. One watch collector who benefitted from buying his Rolexes in April? Newly minted NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who celebrated his award by showering Thunder teammates with expensive gifts. Spotted among the boxes was a two-tone Sea-Dweller, multiple Datejust 36s, a Sky-Dweller, and a Submariner. The rollout, shared on IG by teammate Jaylin Williams, also included iPhones, Beats headphones, and custom Canada Goose jackets celebrating the team's 68–14 season. As usual, Rolex takes center stage as the timepiece of choice for sports icons looking to mark greatness with something tangible… and timeless. Advertisement via The New Yorker A worthy long-read for the music fans among us. A secretive, decades-long quest to preserve America's most iconic guitars has culminated in the donation of nearly 600 vintage axes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Long whispered about in collector circles, the trove includes legendary models like the 1959 Les Paul 'Brock Burst' and a prototype from Leo Fender. This unprecedented collection, built on obsessive curation and deep provenance, will have a permanent place at The Met starting in 2027. Your collection deserves a community. Download Mantel and subscribe to the Above the Mantel newsletter today.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fanatics Launches Athletes vs. Celebs vs. Fans Event With $1M Prize
Fanatics is the latest company to try its hand at what's become a growing trend: competitions that pit athletes, celebrities and fans against each other. Michael Rubin's company on Tuesday announced the launch of Fanatics Games. To be played over three days at Fanatics Fest in New York City next month, the competition will feature 100 competitors—50 athletes and celebrities, and 50 fans—in non-contact competitions like golf shot accuracy, basketball shooting and soccer scoring. Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, Tiffany Haddish, Druski, Liv Morgan and Logan Paul are among those already committed to participating. Advertisement More from The strategy is leaning partially on the popularity of Pros vs. Joes, which matched fans against famous athletes, and also on the success of MrBeast, who made mass competition a staple of his rise to YouTube stardom. These unofficial celebrity-driven sporting events have drawn the attention of both fans and new-age sports streamers. Netflix's first live sporting event wasn't NFL or even WWE, it was a gimmick featuring pro golfers and F1 drivers playing eight holes in souped-up carts. There's no broader media plan for Fanatics Games, at least not yet. Clips will appear on Fanatics social media accounts and will likely get aggregated by other sports profiles thereafter, but there is no tie-up with a major streamer. The winner will receive $1 million, with other prizes including a Ferrari and a LeBron James trading card valued at $250,000. If no fan finishes in the top three, the highest finishing fan will win $100,000. Michael Rubin's company is trying to become a one-stop shop for anything a sports fan might want to buy, from jerseys and trading cards to wagers and tickets. More recently, the company has been folding as many Fanatics verticals on top of each other as possible—utilizing the company's relationships with athletes and influencers to further promote the web of Fanatics product and IP. Advertisement Fanatics Fest was itself a child of that strategy. The event, which the company said drew 70,000 people to New York City's Javits Center last year, was the first major endeavor by the group's events arm, which launched in 2023 with IMG as a minority partner. Fanatics Fest was modeled after Comic Con, with Fanatics product for sale, experiential booths for fans and an appearance list that included Brady, Durant and Morgan. All three of them will compete in the first Fanatics Games. Others committed right now include Hart, IShowSpeed, KSI, Russell Wilson, Rob Gronkowski, C.J. Stroud, Druski, Micah Parsons, Alex Rodriguez, Odell Beckham Jr., Tyreek Hill, Jayden Daniels, Draymond Green, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley and Jordan Chiles. Joining them will be 50 fans who buy a Fanatics Fest ticket and submit a video application via—what else—the Fanatics app. There are other overlaps between the famous competitors and the greater Fanatics ecosystem, either via partnerships or the celebrities' appearances at Rubin's 'white parties.' Last year Rubin posted a video of a beach football game prior to one of those parties featuring Brady, Beckham, Parsons and Stroud. Fanatics revenue was $8.1 billion in 2024, up 15% from 2023, Sportico reported earlier this year. The apparel and merchandise business is the biggest of its three main units ($6.2 billion in revenue), followed by trading cards ($1.6 billion) and gambling ($300 million). Advertisement To put on the games, Fanatics is partnering with OBB Media and Cheat Code Studios. Last year, MrBeast (AKA Jimmy Donaldson) released a video featuring amateurs competing against Brady, Noah Lyles, Bryce Harper, Bryson DeChambeau and Cristiano Ronaldo. The video now has 274.4 million views. MrBeast also organized a 3-point contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend that featured Damian Lillard and a college student. Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Fanatics promo event pits sports fans against pros like Tom Brady — with top prize of $1 million
Ever wonder what it would be like to face off against a sports legend like Tom Brady? Well, now you can. Fanatics, the global sports platform that offers everything from team shirts and collectibles to online betting, is introducing a "first-of-its-kind" skills-based contest at its second annual Fanatics Fest, the company said in a statement on the event. The second annual Fanatics Fest will take place in New York City and allow sports fans to compete against athletes and celebrities in a series of eight "unique sports-themed skills challenges," according to the statement. Big names slated to take part in the fan-based competition include Tom Brady, Odell Beckham Jr., Jordan Chiles, Jayden Daniels, Druski, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Rob Gronkowski, James Harden, Kevin Hart, Tyreek Hill, IShowSpeed, KSI, Liv Morgan, Logan Paul, Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Alex Rodriguez, Seth Rollins, C.J. Stroud, and Russell Wilson, with more to be announced, according to Fanatics. Up for grabs is $2 million in prizes, including $1 million in cash for the first-place winner and a Ferrari 812 GTS for the second-place winner. A LeBron James trading card worth up to $250,000 is also on the table. If no fans finish in the top three, the highest-scoring one will receive $100,000, the Fanatics Fest website says. Challenges will include something for every sports fans, such as an NHL-washer-dryer puck shooting contest, NBA-around the world basketball, FIFA-goal scoring, an NFL game that will test fans' quarterback skills, among others. Each of the games will allow fans to rack up points, although only competitors' six best scores will count, according to Fanatics. To enter, fans are asked to submit a short video showing off their athletic tricks as well as explaining why they deserve to be selected. "Your story, your skills, your dunks, your catches — whatever makes you a standout. We want to see it," the Fanatics Fest website says. Fifty fans will ultimately be selected to compete, according to Fanatics. Last year's inaugural Fanatics Fest drew 70,000 sports fans and hundreds of athletes and celebrities according to Fanatics. This year's event will be held at New York City's Javits Center from June 20-22. "Seeing the pure joy, excitement and enthusiasm from all the fans who attended our first event last summer was absolutely incredible and I could not be more excited to bring Fanatics Fest back to New York City this June," said Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin in a December announcement of the event.
