Fanatics has reportedly reached an agreement to acquire the Topps trading card business for $500 million in a deal slated to be finalized on Tuesday.
The deal includes Topps’ collectables arm, both physical and digital, sources told the Wall Street Journal as well as ESPN.
The deal, which solidifies Fanatics’ dominance in the trading-card world, means Fanatics Trading Cards’ MLB and MLBPA rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards — originally slated to start in 2026 — will begin immediately.
Topps also has the rights to bourgeoning hobby darlings such as Formula 1, UEFA, Major League Soccer and Bundesliga, which significantly increases the scope of Fanatics Trading Cards, launched last year.
The sale comes less than five months after the deals struck by Fanatics scuttled Topps’ plan to go public in a blank-check merger. That deal, which valued Topps at about over $1 billion, fell apart in August when Major League Baseball and its players’ union struck exclusive deals with the new Fanatics-led company.
Michael Rubin’s company is paying nearly $500 million to buy Topps Sports & Entertainment, the business unit that includes physical cards and digital collectibles. The remainder of The Topps Co., including the Bazooka Candy Brands confectionary, will remain with the current owners, private equity firm Madison Dearborn and Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company, according to reports.
Fanatics last August completed a $325 million funding round that included rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and valued the online sports-merchandise seller at $18 billion.
Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, also ponied up an investment. Current investors Silver Lake, the private-equity firm as well as SoftBank’s (SFTBY) Vision Fund and Major League Baseball also participated in the round.
