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FIFA announced a collectibles licensing deal with Fanatics last week that will end its decades-long relationship with rival Panini.
Starting in 2031, Fanatics-owned Topps will make World Cup trading cards, stickers, and trading card games. Fanatics will also bring its signature patch business to the World Cup, and debut patches can start being worn this summer. The deal spans multiple World Cup cycles, ESPN reported.
Aside from the 1994 World Cup, Panini has made World Cup stickers since 1970. A Panini spokesperson said in a statement that the company is “committed to successfully executing on its license” for FIFA.
“We will continue to provide consumers with the experience, excitement and tradition they have come to know and love about the Panini sticker collection since 1970 for this World Cup, the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2030 FIFA Men’s World Cup,” the spokesperson said.
The legal battle between Fanatics and Panini has been one of the most heated in sports business. The two companies have been in an antitrust fight since 2023. Panini is accusing Fanatics of illegal anticompetitive behavior and monopolizing sports cards. Fanatics denies Panini’s allegations and has also countersued. A judge dismissed some of Panini’s claims last year, but allowed the core of its argument to go forward, and the case is still in discovery.
FIFA is the latest sports license that Fanatics has scooped up from Panini, adding to a list that includes MLB, the NFL, the NBA, WWE, UEFA, and the Premier League. Panini also recently said it is working with a bank to pursue options that could “expand the company,” but denied looking to sell to a competitor.
“The really big element here is that it’s yet another example of Fanatics checking boxes as they complete their takeover of the industry,” Will Stern, who leads memorabilia strategy for Cllct, tells Front Office Sports. “Throw in the plenty of legal back and forth between the two over licenses like this, and it tells me that Fanatics is looking to complete their takeover of the industry and squash Panini like a bug.”
Panini’s World Cup products are highly regarded among collectors. But Fanatics’ way of marketing their products using athletes, influencers, and trading card breakers online is shifting the industry.
“Licenses used to reward manufacturing and distribution,” Brett McGrath, host of the sports card collectors podcast Stacking Slabs, tells FOS. “Now they reward attention.”
McGrath says the FIFA–Fanatics deal “felt inevitable based on the changing landscape,” and is “a different game than what Panini was built for.”
Panini projects about $1.5 billion in sales for each of the next two men’s World Cups, according to The Athletic.
“That’s a very different strategy than the traditional ‘print product and distribute it’ model that the sports card industry has operated under for decades,” McGrath says. “The FIFA deal feels less like a licensing change and more like another signal that collectibles are evolving into an entertainment and moments-based business.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the same in a statement announcing the deal, noting that Fanatics is “driving massive innovation in collectibles that provides fans with a new, meaningful way to engage with their favorite teams and with their favorite players.”
Fanatics and FIFA are already in business together, with the company serving as the World Cup’s official retail partner at stadiums and Fan Fests, and Fanatics Fest in July hosting the official press conference for the World Cup final.
“Through our cutting-edge offerings we look forward to helping grow both the hobby and the global game as a whole,” Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan said in a statement.
Collectibles creator Brendan Pereira, who goes by “Coach Koe,” tells FOS that the new World Cup debut patch will create a new highest tier of soccer cards, as Fanatics has mastered in other sports. “The potential for growth is massive,” Pereira says, especially as Panini has pulled away from focusing on specific moments. In baseball, Paul Skenes’ rookie card sold for $1.1 million at auction last year.
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