FIFA confirm historic World Cup deal with Fanatics, including $150million giveaway

FIFA and Fanatics have confirmed a new long-term exclusive licensing deal for collectibles that includes trading cards, stickers, and trading card games.

The new and expanded contract means Panini will no longer provide the official sticker album for the tournament, as they have done since 1970 (bar the 1994 edition).

AFP

Their latest record-breaking album which has 980 stickers across 112 pages, will now be the Italian company’s penultimate, with the final one arriving in 2030.

As part of the new deal, Fanatics will distribute more than $150million (£110m) in collectibles free of charge to help support youth football globally.

Fanatics Collectibles will lead the design and development of all products, which will be released under the Topps brand.

“Across the sports landscape, we see that Fanatics are driving massive innovation in  collectibles that provides fans with a new, meaningful way to engage with their favorite teams and with their favorite players,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

“So, from FIFA’s point of view, we can globalize that fan engagement precisely thanks to our global tournament portfolio. And this provides another important commercial revenue stream that we channel back, as always, into the game, into football.”

Fanatics founder and CEO, Michael Rubin, said: “This is truly a historic day in our company’s history. Global football is the biggest growth opportunity in sports, and when you combine the power of FIFA with the innovation and entrepreneurial backbone of Fanatics, together we’re poised to elevate storytelling and collectibles around the game in a way that’s never been seen before.” 

Fanatics Collectibles CEO, Mike Mahan, added: “We’re incredibly excited to partner with FIFA to deliver truly innovative products that bring fans and collectors closer to their favorite players in the biggest competitions. Through our cutting-edge offerings we look forward to helping grow both the hobby and the global game as a whole.”  

While the new deal starts in 2031, Fanatics are working swiftly to ensure their presence is felt at the 2026 World Cup.

At the tournament, being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Fanatics will begin collecting highly sought-after jersey patches.

This is set to include debut patches, which have already appeared in other sports, to be used in Topps trading cards.

Fanatics

NFL, MLB, UFC, and even F1 stars have worn the iconography in their first professional appearances within the respective sports.

Patches collected at this year’s tournament will then be used in collections when the deal begins in 2031, mirroring a process Topps have already used before.

Rubin told the Athletic: “For the previous three years [before Fanatics could use the license], the NFL put debut patches on rookies when they played their first game and then they saved those relics until the rights kicked in.

“I think we do that across every sport. There’s a multi-year cycle when you launch together. … We did the NFL, the NBA and MLB and they were all basically five years in advance. So I think this is the right time to announce it and start to build the initiatives.”

And Rubin is continuing to think big as he looks to capitalise on the momentum a World Cup in North America can bring.

He added: “Our collectibles business this year is probably 85 per cent in the U.S. So as we think about how to expand globally, which is how we turn this into a much bigger business, there’s nothing more important than FIFA.

x: @Topps

Topps

“So for us, we’re thinking about global [growth]. Our big growth initiative and partnering with FIFA to do the World Cup, there’s no bigger event in the world than the World Cup every four years.”

Rubin continued: “We think long term, global football should be our biggest business. Our job is to make sure that we keep raising the bar and innovating in a way that nobody else can do.”

The announcement comes hot on the heels of Fanatics acquiring licenses for a number of international football teams.

Brazil (2027), Germany and England (2031), and Italy (2035) are all set to swap from Panini to Topps, while Argentina have already announced a new deal with the company.

Panini had already seen Topps wrestle the Premier League license from their grasp.

Meanwhile, David Beckham, like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham signed an exclusive deal with Rubin’s company.

Fanatics’ expansion into Europe is gathering pace with their London Collectibles store celebrating a year open on Regent Street.

A pop-up store is set to arrive in Munich, while Rubin was also involved as F1 icon Lewis Hamilton paired up with legendary shop Dave & Adam’s Card World as he seeks to open trading card stores globally.

Fanatics’ innovative relic cards have even expanded into featuring parts of Formula 1 cars after a landmark deal with McLaren.