London is set to be home to the first Fanatics Collectibles store. Due to open in spring this year, this new location on Regent Street will give fans access to a wide range of trading cards covering various genres but will it be a success?
What Are Fanatics Collectables?
The Fanatics, Inc. history can be traced back to 1998 when Michael G. Rubin created Global Sports Incorporated as an apparel firm. He sold the company to eBay 13 years later but kept control of the sports e-commerce business, which he called Fanatics. As reported in Sportico’s business section, the company’s revenue increased by 18% in 2024, to $8.1 billion, with the retail and trading cards divisions providing particularly impressive results.
The business now covers a range of areas, such as licensed merchandise and collectables. The brand also offers sports betting and we can see more on Fanatics Sportsbook bonus bets by looking at the details of their current promotion. New players who sign up and deposit at least $5 could get a series of free wagers known as No Sweat Bets. This offer kicks in if their first bet loses, giving a cashback type of deal where the player gets another chance to win without adding more funds.
What Else Do We Know About This Store Opening?
The new store on London’s Regent Street will cover 803 square meters (8,647 square feet) of retail space. It will be geared towards sport and entertainment-themed trading cards as well as trading card games. This means that visitors will be able to choose from the top brands in the Fanatics Collectibles range such as Merlin, Topps and Bowman.
David Leiner is president of trading cards at Topps and he pointed out that there’s a lower ratio of collectables stores in Europe compared to the US, despite sticker albums traditionally being popular on this side of the Atlantic. EPL fans will be looking out for the Topps range since it has exclusive rights to produce trading cards for this league during the 2025/26 season. The same brand has UEFA national team rights and is expected to produce NBA cards soon.
Given this focus on trading cards, it’s easy to see why the new store will have a large display of the world’s rarest and most interesting cards as its attention-grabbing centrepiece. A breaking studio gives it a place where new card packs can be securely opened live or recorded for future transmission. The store will also include sports apparel and memorabilia covering a range of popular sports including football, baseball and WWE. Their entertainment trading cards will cover the likes of Stranger Things, Marvel and Star Wars.
This store opening marks a new chapter in the Fanatics Collectables story, by giving fans the chance to get hold of their favourite cards in a bespoke setting in the heart of the UK capital. Recent growth in this activity has largely been centred on the US, so industry analysts will be watching closely to see whether it becomes a big success in the UK too.
