Overview Fanatics Fest NYC is Fanatics' sports fan festival at the Javits Center, and in 2026 it put more than 400 athletes on its floor over four days, from LeBron James and Serena Williams to Lionel Messi on the weekend of the World Cup final. The show mixes athlete appearances, trading cards and collectibles, live podcasts and panels, fan competitions and brand-built games in one hall. Fanatics sells licensed sports merchandise, runs a cards and collectibles marketplace and a sportsbook, and fans earn its FanCash rewards on festival tickets. On site The 2026 program carried 90 live panels, podcasts and performances. A trophy gallery put the FIFA World Cup Trophy, the Heisman and the Larry O'Brien side by side, and the Knicks brought the Larry O'Brien out for a second championship parade inside the building. Kevin Hart filmed Cold As Balls ice-bath episodes live, and Tom Brady dunked Rob Gronkowski in 500 gallons of Raising Cane's sauce. Collectors had the Hobby Hall of dealers and card breaks, expanded in 2025, and Kevin O'Leary bought a $1 million Shohei Ohtani card on the floor in 2026. The first edition in 2024 built a Museum of Greatness holding more than $200 million in cards and a replica of the 40/40 Club. Audience It pulls families making a day of it and card collectors working the dealers. A fan post the festival chose for its own page called it a core memory for the family; another said nothing else in the hobby mixes sports and pop culture at that scale. Thursday, Friday and Saturday single-day tickets sold out in 2026. Talent and Influencers The 2026 wall also listed Tom Brady, David Beckham, Kevin Hart, JAY-Z, Travis Scott, Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter, Victor Wembanyama and Novak Djokovic, who took over a table tennis court. Justin Bieber won the Fanatics Games, where fans compete against athletes and celebrities, and a fan who finished second went home with a Ferrari. Gerard Pique gave away tickets to the World Cup final, and Brady squared off with Logan Paul. Track record Fanatics Fest debuted at the Javits Center in August 2024 and returned there in 2025 and 2026. Attendance: 70,000-plus (2024), 125,000-plus (2025), 200,000-plus over four days (2026). The first Fanatics Games, in 2024, put 50 fans against pro athletes and celebrities. Brand presence Partners build playable sets on the floor. In 2026 American Express turned a house into a sports course - kitchen golf, bedroom basketball, den hockey - with Champion Chains for the winners. UFC stood up a life-size Octagon with a striking challenge that measured punch force. Major League Soccer's Center Circle ran 8,000 square feet, entered through an LED walkout tunnel, with a keepy-uppy leaderboard, a heritage locker room and an Apple-branded broadcast booth. Raising Cane's put its sauce into the Brady-Gronkowski stunt.