Fanatics is planning a massive event in New York this year, the first Fanatics Fest. However, this isn’t just an ordinary card show. The apparel and sports card giant is planning something far more ambitious, as they often do.
They have immersive experiences and exclusive drops planned. The idea is to make this event an annual one of note. But will that succeed, and is this just another card show, or indeed something more unique?
We will give you the full details and interview Lance Fensterman, the Chief Executive Officer of Fanatics Events, to learn more. Please read all about it in our coverage of Fanatics Fest.
Fanatics Fest will occur at the Javits Center on 11th Street in Manhattan from August 16 to 18. It will be held over one weekend, from 10:00 to 19:00 on Friday and Saturday and 10:00 to 16:00 on Sunday.
The company bills it as “the first-ever immersive sports festival where fandom, culture, and collecting collide.”
The website also tells us that this is “a once-in-a-lifetime fan event that features sports legends, A-list celebrities, limited-edition merch drops, immersive brand and league activations, rare collectibles, live breaking, and more – all in the heart of New York City.” What does this mean exactly?
Lance Fensterman told us the idea came up when Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin asked him, “Why isn’t there a Comic-Con for sports?” He had organized several Comic-Con conventions in his previous job at ReedPop and was brought over to Fanatics to organize this event and others like it.
I asked how this was different from organizing Comic-Con. Fensterman explained that while everyone knew that model and how to work with it, here he had to start everything from scratch and explain everything to partners anew. “It’s novel and new, and there isn’t a lot of tradition.”
Fanatics is heavily invested in becoming the one-stop shop for every aspect of the hobby. The Fanatics Fest event is part of the all-encompassing vision that the company has for collecting.
Lance explained that the goal is to “grow the hobby and bring more collectors in. We also want to make collectors shows a little bit better if we can. Maybe also by helping other card shows that are out there. But we also want to introduce all of the Fanatics world to fans. So they know about everything we offer, including gambling, collectibles, and the commerce site.”
However, Lance said the “most important element is to build a deeper relationship between Fanatics as a brand and an entity and the fans. Events are good at that sort of deep storytelling and connection.
Digital events are great for breadth and not depth. In live events, we can deliver something to show fans how we view them and how much we value them.”
There are already so many card shows available to collectors around the country. Meanwhile, the National Towers are, above all else, the most significant and most crucial card show. The question is, how does Faantics Fest fit into that picture?
I asked Lance about that. He stressed that it will differ from traditional card shows in several important ways: “We want to add more elements to the offering. Card shows are exceptional at serving the audience for those shows. They may not be as exceptional at bringing in a new collector or introducing someone to the hobby. Few people wake up and say, ‘You know what I have to do today? Start collecting cards.’ What we want to do is introduce experimental elements and content. “Even if you don’t collect cards, there is so much to do, and you might discover that you like cards too. We will have seminars to explain ‘what cards are.’ What is Chrome versus Series 1 versus Series 2? Open a pack, take one home for free.”
However, there will also be traditional card show elements. Fensterman says, “It will also be a great cards show with 300 vendors selling there and the content and entertainment. We are trying to round out the experience, so it isn’t just cards.”
One thing we have repeatedly seen from Fanatics is a desire to have top-down control over much of the card industry. Therefore, when we saw they were getting into the card show business, the most natural first question was, are they looking to replace existing card shows?
More specifically, is this big and splashy event designed to replace the National as America’s biggest and most essential card show?
Fensterman completely denied this and showed great respect for existing card shows and the National in particular. “We are not trying to hurt the National. We are not even trying to compete with the National. The National is an exceptional show that is industry-leading. It’s one of the best events, and the best cards show. We want to create something different and experiential.”
The point is to have many engaging things to do, aside from the usual sports card convention standard where, as Lance put it, “you walk around and look at cards only.” But he added, “If you want to do that, we have that too.”
One of the main selling points of Fanatics Fest, unlike traditional sports card shows, is the immersive experience.
Lance told us that “every major league will be there: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, WWE, UFC. They all have big spaces, and everyone will have their own experimental space. For example, for the WWE, you will have the walkout. So, pick your favorite wrestler superstar and pick your music, and literally, you can have your walk-on moment, which will all be recorded and distributed. The NFL will have a 40-yard dash that you can run against great NFL players. The MLS will have a penalty shot experience in their booth.”
Many of these leagues have been facilitating these experimental modes for a while. For example, MLB Playball Park occurred at the All-Star game. However, Fanatics Fest is the first time these experiences will be available simultaneously at the same place.
In addition, Fanatics Fest will have a lounge where you can play sports games, and golf simulators will be available.
Fanatics has more influence with the most prominent athletes in America than any other company. Therefore, as you might expect, the Fanatics Fest event has a tremendous lineup of past and present athletes available for autographs and pictures with patrons.
Here is the complete lineup as it stands at the time of writing (these names and dates are all potentially subject to change):
The standard lineup of options you have when meeting them is:
The prices for some of these are very high. For example, if you want a photo-op with Allen Iverson, it will cost you $183, and a game-used auto will cost $432. For Jerry Rice, a photo op will set you back $270, and a game-used auto $649.92.
I asked Fensterman about this. After all, they did say that this event was about the fans building a deeper connection and showing them appreciation.
He answered, “There is a free market, and the market dictates what some signatures and autographs are worth. We encountered this in the past when running Comic-Con events. Different actors, or in this case, athletes, want different costs for their time, their attention, and their autographs. When we looked across the board, and we have an entire team that does that, the Authentics Team, they looked at the market for these different athletes and priced it accordingly. We don’t want to be above the market but must also be fair to the athletes. But we will look at any place where we are out of line with the market. We always want to bring the best possible array of athletes at the best price.”
Fensterman told us that the panels “include some of the biggest names like Jeter and Brady talking about what inspired them. You get content and entertainment in addition to the regular card show experience.
Some of the panelists you can expect include Tom Brady, Julius Erving, Derek Jeter, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Just an incredible lineup. Some of the best-known podcasts in the biz will be recorded there, and you can watch them do it.
The event promotions speak of exclusive drops and collectibles, so I asked Fensterman what that would include. However, he was far more concerned about this than about other subjects.
He explained, “We have a couple of things from Topps that are going to be pretty exciting. I am not ready to give away all the details yet, but two different Topps exclusive products will be available at the show.”
Lance explained that he didn’t want to go into that because Fanatics did not want to steal the thunder of the National. As he said, “Next week is National time. I think that expresses a reverence and respect for our friends at the National.”
Right now, Fanatics Fest appears to be the cornerstone of the company’s annual event calendar. But the company is planning other gatherings. Fensterman said they are looking at making more local events that can appeal to a particular community, like a boutique event they have planned in Pittsburgh.
Fanatics also plans to help local card show organizers by supplementing their offerings. That might be a way to alleviate some of the mistrust between local card stores and vendors and Fanatics. Lance said, “We want to make sure that we are adding to the community and not taking from or competing with and trying to damage others.”
The idea behind Fanatics Fest is undoubtedly exciting, and the lineup is nothing short of amazing. We will have to see if the execution is up to the idea. However, it is hard to imagine how this doesn’t succeed. With all the people in New York looking for something to do this summer, many people will want to engage in all these experiences and photo ops.
We wonder if the ultimate goal behind this is to co-opt the card show industry and if Fanatics is not trying to show a friendly face.
There is no doubt that Lance Fensterman is undoubtedly a very amiable face. But those concerns will not stop thousands of people from pouring into Fanatics Fest. This will probably become a staple of the hobby for years to come.
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