How Fanatics Is Turning Everyday Spending Into Sports Rewards

After months of rumors and speculation, Fanatics unveiled its co-branded American Express credit card this week. Designed as “the ultimate card for sports fans,” the new Fanatics American Express® card offers four main perks.

1. Rewards: Cardmembers will earn 5% in FanCash on purchases across the Fanatics ecosystem, including Fanatics, Fanatics Collectibles/Collect, League Stores, and more. You can earn 8% or more in FanCash for purchases made on the Fanatics App, 5% on tickets and select streaming services, and 2% on purchases everywhere else.¹ There is no annual fee, and you can also earn an additional $100 in FanCash after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days.²

2. Access: Cardmembers get special access, including early floor access at Fanatics Fest and front-of-line access to select Topps drops quarterly.³ The Championship Challenge also lets cardmembers earn up to $100,000 in spend back if they correctly pick all four championship teams across the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.⁴

3. Membership: Cardmembers earn 2,500 tier points annually for the Fanatics ONE membership program, which automatically places you in the Member Pro tier. Every $50 spent on the card then earns you an additional 10 points.⁵

4. Personalization: The Fanatics American Express Card is designed to function as both a payment method and a collectible. Members can choose from more than 500 Topps-inspired designs across the NFL, NBA, WWE, and UFC, with more leagues and athlete options coming soon.

   JOIN THE WAITLIST

In addition to Fanatics-branded benefits, cardmembers also receive access to American Express Network benefits. That includes the obvious stuff — travel and lifestyle benefits and retail protections — but also Amex Experiences for access to ticket presales for events across sports, music, theater, and more, plus exclusive perks at some of the world’s most iconic venues (think: fast-lane access).⁶

The easiest way to think about the value proposition is that Fanatics has spent years building more ways for fans to celebrate their favorite athletes and sports teams. Fanatics started with traditional commerce (think: jerseys, hats, apparel, and memorabilia), but over the last several years has expanded into everything from betting and gaming to trading cards and collectibles to tickets, events, and premium experiences. FanCash can be redeemed across the entire Fanatics ecosystem, rewarding cardmembers everywhere they show their fandom.

“Can we make it better for the fan, and can we relentlessly enhance the fan experience? Because if we can for our fan, we’ll delight our partners. If we can delight our partners, we’ll delight our shareholders. But it’s always in that order,” Fanatics Chief Financial Officer Glenn Schiffman told me on a recent podcast.

Fanatics is the only company that can pull this off. Traditional credit cards are simple. You sign up for a card and then unlock rewards for travel, food, or retail shopping. You might get airport lounge access or Uber credit, but that usually comes with an annual fee. And even though sports fans are some of the world’s highest spenders, no one has created a valuable card for this demographic because licensing rights across leagues, teams, and athletes are so fragmented.

That’s where Fanatics can win. The company already has licensing deals with virtually every major sports league, and Michael Rubin has turned it into a one-stop shop for sports fans. If you want to buy a jersey, you go to Fanatics. If you want to start collecting trading cards, you go to Fanatics. If you want to buy signed memorabilia from your favorite athlete, you go to Fanatics. And if you want to bet on who will win the Super Bowl or NBA Finals, you go to Fanatics.

These aren’t small businesses either. We all know Fanatics is the clear leader in sports commerce, manufacturing 45M+ items a year for 100M+ global sports fans across 180+ countries, but its other businesses have gotten pretty big too.

• Fanatics Collectibles: Fanatics Collectibles revenue has grown rapidly, from $1.1 billion in 2023 to about $5 billion this year. The portfolio now includes licenses with Disney/Marvel/Pixar, WWE, the Premier League, the NBA, the NFL, and FIFA, along with exclusive agreements with top athletes including Tom Brady, LeBron James, Shohei Ohtani, David Beckham, and Victor Wembanyama. Fanatics also opened its first flagship store in London last year, which is on pace for $40 million in sales, and the company just opened its second international flagship store in Paris in late October.

• Fanatics Betting & Gaming: Fanatics entered the sports betting market in 2023, yet Michael Rubin says the company’s betting & gaming division will contribute about $2 billion in revenue this year. Fanatics was the top-downloaded sportsbook during March Madness, will spend about $1 billion on advertising next year, and has already gained about 10% market share, placing it 3rd amongst operators. Revenues are also up 70% year over year.

• Fanatics Fest: Fanatics Fest 2026 expanded to four days for the first time and drew over 200,000 attendees, shattering prior-year attendance records at the Javits Center in New York City. The event brings all Fanatics brands under one roof — Commerce, Collectibles, and Betting & Gaming — and more than 400 athletes and celebrities showed up to interact with fans, including Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, Jay-Z, and Justin Bieber. Rubin previously said Fanatics spent $80-90 million to put on the event this year.

Last January, Fanatics also launched Fanatics Studios, a sports entertainment joint venture with OBB, with work that already includes the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, the 2026 ESPYS, and Fanatics Fest: All Access for ESPN.

In total, Fanatics is expected to generate approximately $14 billion in revenue across all its brands this year, with $2 billion in free cash flow, about $1 billion in net cash, and no debt. That’s a 40% year-over-year revenue jump, with commerce at $7 billion, collectibles at $5 billion, and betting & gaming at $2 billion.

This context matters because you might buy apparel only a few times a year, but collecting, betting on games, watching content, buying tickets, and attending events create more reasons to interact. Fanatics ONE and FanCash now share a common rewards structure, while the new credit card powered by the American Express Network extends that relationship to fan purchases like tickets and sports streaming, as well as other everyday purchases.

For example, a fan who spends $2,000 on merchandise and trading cards on the Fanatics App every year would earn $160 in FanCash. A card that pays a flat 3% cash back would earn you just $60 on the same spend. If you also spend $3,000 annually on tickets and streaming services, that’s another $150. And since the Fanatics American Express card offers 2% on all other purchases, you could earn hundreds of dollars in additional rewards for purchases you are already making.

That could cover a few jerseys or help pay for collectibles they were planning to buy anyway. The value proposition is easy to understand if you already spend money on those things, and it compounds if you make purchases in the Fanatics App. And remember, there is no annual fee, so while you still have to pay your bill in full to avoid interest eating into the rewards, the whole idea is that ordinary spending can now help fund the sports purchases you already look forward to.

For Fanatics, the benefit is getting more business from customers it has already spent money acquiring. Think of it this way: Fanatics Fest might convince an apparel buyer to start collecting cards. Using the credit card for everyday purchases then keeps rewards accumulating between occasions when they would normally shop for sports gear, giving them another reason to return. If that leads to more frequent purchases across multiple categories, Fanatics can spread the cost of acquiring that customer across more transactions, increasing profitability.

When asked how Fanatics will measure success for the American Express partnership, Schiffman told me, “Success will be when you know our three CEOs of our three big businesses say, Wow, this was a force multiplier for my business.”

That is why the size of Fanatics matters. A rewards program becomes more useful when there are more things you actually want to spend the rewards on, and Fanatics has spent years assembling that selection across sports. Plus, with more than 500 Topps designs to choose from, fans can now carry a trading card in their wallet every day. Fanatics’ licensing relationships make that possible, giving fans another way to show who they root for every time they pull out their card.

JOIN THE WAITLIST TO GET THE CARD

P.S. You can listen to my entire conversation with Fanatics CFO Glenn Schiffman here. In addition to the new Fanatics American Express Card, Glenn and I discuss how Fanatics’ business has evolved over the last few years, how much money the company spends on marketing to gain market share in the competitive gaming space, and why owning several different touchpoints creates network effects.

1. Earn 5% FanCash back on eligible purchases at Fanatics Merchants using the Fanatics American Express® Card. You may earn an additional 3% FanCash or more when making purchases through the Fanatics App. Earn 5% FanCash on select Fandom Merchants, up to $5,000 annually and 2% on other eligible purchases. See Rewards Program Terms and Conditions for more information.

2. See Credit Program Cardholder Agreement for more information. Valid one time only for new cardholders. Earn $100 FanCash back after $1,000 in net spend on the Fanatics American Express® Card within 90 days of account opening. Offer may not be eligible to be combined with all other offers. Bonus will be credited within 8–12 weeks of qualifying and may post in multiple deposits. Account must be open and in good standing to be fulfilled. Offer may be modified or withdrawn at any time.

3. Cardholders are provided early access to at least four select Topps drops per calendar year. Cardholders will be notified via email prior to receiving access to the Topps drops at their Fanatics ONE email address. You must be opted in to marketing emails from Topps in order to receive this notification. Available while supplies last. Early access doesn’t guarantee availability.

4. Eligibility requirements apply. Program details, including timing and structure, are subject to change. Terms and conditions apply. Full details to be announced prior to entry.

5. Your Fanatics ONE account will be credited with 2,500 Tier Points within 30 days of account opening, and 2,500 Tier Points within 30 days of each anniversary thereafter. See Fanatics ONE Program Terms.

6. For full details and availability, visit the Global Benefits Page.

The Fanatics American Express® Card is issued by First Electronic Bank, pursuant to a license from American Express. American Express is a registered trademark of American Express. The Fanatics American Express® Card is powered by Imprint Payments, Inc.

You must have a Fanatics ONE account to have the Fanatics American Express Card. See Fanatics ONE Program Terms.