Collector Club
At Collector Club, we’re always keen to provide a platform for passionate voices within the hobby. This article has been written by The Secret Collector, a prominent figure within the UK and European sports card community who prefers to remain anonymous.
As someone with deep connections in the collecting world, The Secret Collector uses this space to share honest, unfiltered views on the key players and events shaping our hobby. What follows is their take on Fanatics Fest 2025.
A Polished spectacle that missed the world stage
Fanatics Fest 2025 in New York City was designed to dazzle. It had all the ingredients of a blockbuster event, A sprawling card show, interactive fan zones, the debut of the high-stakes Fanatics Games, and a celebrity line-up straight out of a Hollywood premiere.
More than 500 sports stars, celebrities and artists were involved, from NFL legend Tom Brady to NBA icon LeBron James. Over 125,000 people flocked to the Javits Center to witness the spectacle. By those numbers and headlines alone, Fanatics Fest 2025 seemed to deliver on its promise of being “bigger, better, bolder.”
However, as a collector based in the UK watching from afar, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this ostensibly global festival left those of us outside the United States out in the cold.
Notably, the only two individuals related to soccer on Fanatic Fest’s lineup image were streamers IShowSpeed and KSI.
Fanatics Fest – An event that simply felt overwhelmingly American
From the outset, Fanatics marketed the fest as “The world’s largest arena for sports & collectibles” meant to bring together enthusiasts and athletes from every corner of the globe. In reality, the event’s content felt overwhelmingly American.
The main attractions revolved around U.S. sports and entertainment, the NFL, NBA, MLB and WWE and the like, with star power to match. Celebrity panels featured names like Brady, John Cena, Kevin Hart and Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama, and surprise cameos by the likes of Jay-Z, Triple H and Mark Wahlberg.
The Fanatics Games themselves were a made-for-TV style competition pitting 50 star athletes against everyday fans for a prize pool of $2 million – an undeniably exciting concept, but again dominated by American sports figures. While thrilling for those in the room, it was hard for collectors outside of the event-space (let alone America) to feel represented by an event so laser-focused on U.S. sports and culture.
European sports – Did they hit the mark, or was this a token gesture?
Fanatics did make gestures toward international inclusion on paper. They proudly touted that for 2025 the number of participating leagues had doubled to include global names like FIFA, Formula 1 and the English Premier League.
On the show floor, there were indeed pockets of global sports content: a FIFA booth that let fans take photos with the World Cup trophy and attempt penalty kicks, and a Premier League zone where the league’s iconic trophy gleamed for pictures. European soccer clubs Juventus and Inter Milan hosted their own activations, Juventus offered quirky skill challenges “with a twist,” and Inter even flew in legendary goalkeeper Julio César for a meet-and-greet.
All of this sounds great, yet in practice these global elements felt like side shows. They were tucked among the larger, flashier American attractions and received little fanfare compared to, say, the NFL zone with its Lombardi Trophy display or the NBA’s interactive combine experience.
Even the hyped memorabilia “Museum of Greatness,” while impressive with its $200 million of sports history, leaned heavily on baseball, basketball and American football grails, treasures of great significance in the States, but far less relatable to someone whose heroes are recognised more so over here.
From grassroots to glitz – Where Fanatics Fest fell short
Perhaps the most jarring aspect was how Fanatics Fest 2025 often felt more like a slick marketing expo than a grassroots collector convention. The polish was undeniable: Corporate sponsor pavilions, and a meticulously planned schedule of athlete appearances and product “drops.” Fanatics clearly spared no expense in turning the event into an experiential showcase of their brand’s power.
Yet that very slickness came at a cost, authenticity. Many long-time collectors (myself included) cherish the community aspect of the hobby: the local card shows, the camaraderie among international traders, the feeling that we’re all equals shuffling through bargain bins or trading hits. At Fanatics Fest, it was hard to escape the sense that the company was selling a lifestyle as much as celebrating a hobby.
The emphasis on celebrity and influencer presence is a case in point. Fanatics leaned heavily on big names to generate buzz, and it worked domestically. Hearing that Tom Brady “stole the show” on Day 1 or that a single trade involving a Jayden Daniel’s rookie card fetched $500,000 certainly grabbed headlines. But for a collector in Europe, Brady tossing a football to kids on stage or Jay-Z swapping jerseys with LeBron James are distant spectacles. Those moments make for great social media clips, but they underscore how removed the event was from the everyday collector, especially one outside the U.S.
International collectors left out of the conversation
What really stings is the lack of inclusion in Fanatics Fest’s narrative and communication. As an overseas collector following the event coverage, I often felt like Fanatics saw me only as part of a distant audience, not as a stakeholder in the hobby community.
Little to no effort was made to acknowledge that collectors exist beyond the American borders in large numbers. Was any content streamed at a Europe-friendly hour, or recapped in non-English languages for global fans? Was there outreach to hobby media in, say, the UK, Germany, or Japan to get those communities involved? If it happened at all, it was barely visible.
This left many of us feeling like outsiders peering through the window of a party that was supposed to celebrate the worldwide hobby. Someone in one group chat I’m part of (comprised of collectors in the UK) put it perfectly, saying “Fanatics Fest looks fun, but it’s not built for us.”, which I wholeheartedly agree with.
Imagine simultaneous satellite events in key cities around the world to make us feel more engaged, special guests from international sports, or panels that address collecting in different cultures. None of that was meaningfully present in 2025, and the absence was glaring.
Fanatics Fest 2025 was by no means a failure, it genuinely looked great. It successfully entertained thousands of fans in person, delivered some memorable moments, and underscored Fanatics’ clout in the hobby industry. For many who attended, it was probably a weekend to remember. But as The Secret Collector, writing from across the Atlantic, I have to call it like I see it: for collectors outside the U.S., Fanatics Fest 2025 was a major letdown.
The event showed us glimmers of what a truly global hobby celebration could be, yet ultimately reinforced the notion that we’re on the sidelines of Fanatics’ grand show.