Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Fanatics, Major Sports Leagues Over Alleged Trading Card Monopoly

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Fanatics and three of the nation’s professional sports leagues have illegally conspired to monopolize the market for NBA, NFL and MLB player trading cards, causing buyers to pay artificially inflated prices. 

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The 47-page class action suit accuses retailer Fanatics of inducing the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to lock into long-term licensing deals with promises of shares in future profits from the alleged trading card monopoly scheme. From there, Fanatics, before those agreements have even gone into effect, has “coerce[d]” the leagues to systematically block its sole remaining competitor from the trading card market, leaving consumers with “fewer choices, lower quality, and higher prices” for NBA, NFL and MLB trading cards, the antitrust lawsuit alleges.

According to the complaint, though Fanatics’ exclusive licenses with the major leagues and their players’ associations will not take effect until 2026, the pricing effects stemming from the allegedly anticompetitive scheme can already be seen in the market, as prices in recent years for certain Topps MLB player trading card sets, for instance, have jumped 50 percent, while the prices of comparable Panini cards have “remained relatively flat or even declined.” 

“The anticompetitive effects of this conduct will continue, and will only intensify, once Fanatics’ monopolistic takeover is complete,” the class action against Fanatics alleges, contending that there exists little chance that any player trading card competitor will survive in the coming decades, “which was presumably Fanatics’ plan all along.”

The Fanatics class action lawsuit says the pillars of the company’s alleged trading card scheme include the securing of long-term exclusive licenses—ranging anywhere from 10 to 20 years—from the NBA, NFL and MLB by promising the leagues and their players’ unions “an equity stake in future monopoly profits.” According to the case, Fanatics secured these “‘back room’ deals” with no open bidding process, becoming the first card manufacturer to secure exclusive licenses from all six major professional sports licensors. 

Another key element to the alleged trading card monopoly conspiracy is the acquisition of Topps, once the dominant MLB player trading card company, the filing goes on. In January 2022, about five months after Fanatics announced its long-term deals with the sports leagues and players’ associations, Fanatics bought Topps for $500 million, roughly a third of the card company’s valuation in acquisition talks that took place “just prior to Fanatics initiating its monopolistic campaign,” the suit says. 

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After the Topps acquisition, Fanatics “trained its sights” on its other, and sole remaining, major competitor, Panini America, the lawsuit continues. According to the suit, Fanatics “choke[d] off” Panini’s supply of trading cards by purchasing a controlling share of GC Packaging, a card manufacturer who handled nearly all of Panini’s production needs, causing supply disruptions and contract cancellations.

In addition, Fanatics also began to leverage its licensing agreements with the leagues and players’ associations, and use “threats and false statements,” to poach Panini employees, the lawsuit claims. 

“For example, Fanatics threatened to blacklist Panini employees from ever working in the industry again when Fanatics’ exclusive long-term licenses took effect unless they immediately quit Panini and joined Fanatics. The fact that this employee raiding occurred years prior to Fanatics license agreements taking effect suggests that the purpose was to harm its only remaining competitor rather than to meet any legitimate near-term business needs.”

Further, the filing alleges Fanatics has “strong-armed” athletes to refuse to enter agreements with Panini by way of “a similar combination of payoffs and threats,” and spread misinformation about Panini’s business, while pressuring distributors to cut ties with the competitor. 

Lastly, the filing alleges Fanatics has wielded its apparent monopoly power over sales of professional sports jerseys and memorabilia to block Panini from acquiring the jerseys necessary to make some of the company’s most valuable products, namely those that include a piece of a player’s uniform. 

“Prior to May 2023, Panini had a multi-year business relationship with Fanatics for purchase of player jerseys; it was only after Fanatics entered the professional sports card trading market that Fanatics terminated sales of jerseys to Panini,” the class action suit claims. 

Fanatics’ trading card market dominance has also come by way of requiring local card shops to accept and implement the company’s minimum price requirements, or risk being cut off from product supply, the case alleges. 

The Fanatics trading card lawsuit looks to cover all individuals or entities in the U.S. that bought MLB, NFL or NBA trading cards directly from one of the defendants (named at the top of this page) at any time from January 1, 2022 “until such time as the anticompetitive conduct alleged” in the class action lawsuit ceases. 

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