Fanatics’ purchase of Topps ensures the company’s hobby future … but what exactly might that future look like?

BY AL MUIR

Ferris Bueller was right. Life does move pretty fast. Just weeks after Fanatics secured licenses that would have severed a 70-year relationship between Topps and Major League Baseball, the online retailing giant purchased the legendary card manufacturer. Terms of the agreement were not made public, but multiple reports valued the deal at roughly $500 million. The sale includes the Topps name along with the company’s sports and entertainment divisions, and ensures its indelible legacy will endure for future generations of collectors.

“With trading cards and collectibles being a significant pillar of our long-term plans to become the leading digital sports platform, we are excited to add a leading trading cards company to build out our business,” Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said in a statement announcing the deal.

The most compelling element of the sale is that it makes Fanatics an immediate player in the baseball card market rather than having to wait in the dugout until 2025 when its licenses with MLB and the MLBPA would have kicked in. It also gives Fanatics control of some of the most revered and recognizable brand names in the category, including Bowman.

Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin

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Josh Luber

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Word of the deal was met with a mix of excitement and trepidation by collectors.

“This is more important than getting the (baseball) license,” said collector Bob Bittner of Brooklyn, New York. “This is about legacy and ensuring that key brands will live on.

“It might be the best news I’ve heard since the doc said I was cancer-free,” he added. “I’ve been building Topps sets since I was a kid in the ‘70s. I built them with my sons when they were growing up. Now I can look forward to building them with my grandkids one day. It’s reassuring,” Bittner said.