Fanatics unseated the biggest name in baseball trading cards last week — and it’s just getting started.

The Jacksonville-based company has secured a deal with the NBA and its players association to replace Panini as the league’s card maker, per The Athletic. Fanatics will hold exclusive rights to produce trading cards bearing NBA intellectual property starting in 2026.

Fanatics, primarily an online sports merchandise company, is starting a trading card company. The NBA, NBPA, MLB, MLBPA, and NFLPA will all hold equity stakes.

The deal is the latest move in a momentous August for Fanatics. 

• Last week, news surfaced that Fanatics had ousted Topps as MLB’s cardmaker. Topps and a SPAC called off a planned $1.3 billion merger in the wake of the news, and both sides are mulling legal action.
• The company is planning a move into sports betting. It partnered with Jay-Z on a bid to be one of the permitted mobile sportsbooks in New York State starting next year.

Earlier this month, Fanatics raised $325 million at an $18 billion valuation.

Before Topps’ business was upended last Thursday, it had posted impressive quarterly earnings on Wednesday with a 78% year-over-year increase in net sales to $212.2 million.

The NFL hasn’t struck a deal with Fanatics’ new trading card company yet, but that could change before its current deal with Panini expires.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has landed the naming rights to the field at California Memorial Stadium — home of the California Golden Bears — in a 10-year, $17.5 million deal.

It will be known as FTX Field at California Memorial Stadium.

The deal for FTX Field represents the first collegiate cryptocurrency naming rights sponsorship. As part of the $17.5 million deal, LEARFIELD will accept the full payment in cryptocurrency on behalf of the university.

The two entities will collaborate on on-field and press-related branding and “charitable initiatives,” particularly a fight against homelessness, for which FTX committed an additional $200,000.

FTX has completely flooded the sports landscape this year.

• It gained naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena in a 19-year, $135 million deal.
• It became the official crypto partner of MLB and the first brand to advertise on an umpire patch.
• Tom Brady became a brand ambassador for the exchange in June, receiving an equity stake and an unspecified amount of cryptocurrency.
• It also struck a $210 million deal with esports team TSM for naming rights, rebranding the team to TSM FTX.

FTX closed a $900 million Series B funding round in July — the largest private funding fund in the crypto industry’s history — valuing the company at $18 billion.

A handful of European soccer clubs have generated more than $200 million in revenue using Socios, an online marketplace for cryptocurrency fan tokens, according to the Telegraph.

At least 23 sporting organizations issue virtual fan tokens through the Socios.com app, which has close to one million registered users. 

Clubs earn revenue in the form of direct payments from Socios.

• Fan tokens for Juventus opened at $13.39 each on Monday, with a market cap of $17.6 million. 
• FC Barcelona’s fan token has a market cap of $72.3 million and opened at $21.65 on Monday. 
• PSG’s fan token opened at $33.36 on Monday, with a market cap of $97 million. 

Earlier this month, Lionel Messi signed a two-year, $41 million deal with PSG, and a portion of his contract is being paid in fan tokens. 

PSG did not disclose how many tokens Messi received but said the amount was “significant,” per Reuters. 

Soccer isn’t the only sport venturing into fan tokens. 

UFC announced a plan in May to issue a blockchain-based token in coordination with Socios and Chiliz, the world’s first tokenized sports exchange.