A class action lawsuit filed against Fanatics, the NFL, NBA, MLB, their respective players associations and OneTeam, which serves as the commercial vehicle for the players associations, was dismissed by a New York federal judge on all counts Monday.
The court granted Fanatics’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which involved five plaintiffs — Robert Scaturo, Scott Bubnick, Joseph Davidov, Steven Mardakhaev and Jonathan Madar.
The suit accused the group of conspiring to monopolize the ever-growing trading card market for each of the sports leagues mentioned, increasing the price of cards for millions of consumers worldwide.
It also largely followed an antitrust lawsuit by Panini, Fanatics’ trading card and memorabilia competitor, citing portions of it throughout.
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Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled that “none of the named plaintiffs adequately allege that they have overpaid or will imminently overpay for trading cards sold by defendants.”
“We said from the start that this was a baseless and fundamentally flawed lawsuit since Fanatics was being accused of raising prices on cards we didn’t even produce,” a Fanatics spokesperson told Fox Business after the ruling Monday. “The court agreed and ruled that the plaintiffs did not even have standing to sue. We are happy the court has now ruled the complaint legally deficient and dismissed it.”
FANATICS COUNTERSUES PANINI AMERICA AFTER ANTITRUST LAWSUIT IN LATEST DRAMA WITHIN TRADING CARD INDUSTRY
Within its ruling, the court also recognized that, when the lawsuit was filed in March 2025, Panini held the licenses for NFL and NBA trading cards. Topps, which was acquired by Fanatics in 2022 for a reported value of about $500 million, had yet to produce NBA-licensed trading cards until October 2025. Additionally, the NFL license for trading cards won’t move to Topps until April of this year.
“Not only did no named Plaintiff purchase such a trading card from Defendants prior to the filing of the FAC, but it was actually impossible for any consumer to do so,” Taylor Swain wrote in the court’s ruling.
As for the price-gouging argument regarding MLB cards, the court found the plaintiffs failed to “explain whether the difference in prices was traceable to extraneous factors, such as production costs or quality differences, or whether the difference was traceable to Defendants’ anticompetitive conduct.” The plaintiffs provided a chart to compare prices of Topps’ licensed cards and Panini’s unlicensed products.
The plaintiff’s attorney, John Radice, told The Athletic his clients are “assessing the court’s dismissal without prejudice and considering all options.”
While this class action lawsuit was dismissed, Panini remains fighting its own lawsuit against Fanatics, accusing it of anticompetitive behavior and monopolization of the sports card industry. This came after Fanatics acquired exclusive licensing rights from the NBA and NFL, which were previously held by Panini. After April 2026, Fanatics will have exclusive licenses to NBA, NFL, MLB, Premier League, F1 and WWE.
Fanatics denied Panini’s claims and filed a countersuit alleging its competitor set out on a “protracted, unlawful, and deceitful campaign of unfair trade practices, strong-arm tactics, and tortious misconduct” in an attempt to force Fanatics to pay a vast amount for Panini to end its licenses in 2022.
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