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A class action lawsuit filed against Fanatics, the NFL, NBA, MLB, their respective player associations and OneTeam, which serves as the commercial vehicle for the players associations, was dismissed on all counts by a federal judge in New York on Monday.
The court granted Fanatics’ request to dismiss the lawsuit, which involved five plaintiffs: Robert Scaturo, Scott Bubnick, Joseph Davidov, Steven Mardakhaev, and Jonathan Madar.
The lawsuit accused the group of conspiring to monopolize the ever-expanding market for trading cards for each of the named sports leagues, raising the price of cards for millions of consumers worldwide.
It also largely followed an antitrust lawsuit from Panini, Fanatics’ rival in trading cards and memorabilia, with parts of it cited widely.
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People browse baseball cards for sale during the 45th National Sports Collectors Convention at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, July 31, 2025. (Audrey Richardson for The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled that “none of the named plaintiffs sufficiently allege that they have overpaid or will soon overpay for trading cards sold by Defendants.”
“We have said from the beginning that this was a baseless and fundamentally flawed lawsuit as Fanatics was accused of raising prices on cards we didn’t even produce,” a Fanatics spokesperson told Fox Business after the ruling. “The court agreed and ruled that the plaintiffs did not even have standing to file a lawsuit. We are pleased that the court has now declared the complaint legally deficient and dismissed it.”
FANATICS AGAINST PANINI AMERICA AFTER ANTITRUST LAWSUIT IN LATEST DRAMA IN THE TRADING CARD INDUSTRY
In its ruling, the court also acknowledged that Panini held the licenses for NFL and NBA trading cards when the lawsuit was filed in March 2025. Topps, which was acquired by Fanatics in 2022 for a reported value of approximately $500 million, had yet to produce NBA-licensed trading cards until October 2025. Additionally, the NFL trading card license 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 filing with the FAC, but it was factually impossible for any consumer to do so,” Taylor Swain wrote in the court’s ruling.
Tom Brady attends Fanatics and Topps’ Hobby Rip Night with Michael Rubin, Tom Brady, Kevin Hart and Travis Scott on September 30, 2023 in Linwood, NJ (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images/Getty Images)
As for the price gouging argument regarding MLB cards, the court found that plaintiffs failed “to explain whether the price difference was attributable to external factors, such as production costs or quality differences, or whether the difference was attributable to Defendants’ anticompetitive conduct.” The plaintiffs provided a chart comparing the prices of Topps’ licensed cards and Panini’s unlicensed products.
This was stated by the plaintiff’s lawyer, John Radice The Athletics his clients review the court’s dismissal without prejudice and consider all options.
Although this class action lawsuit was dismissed, Panini continues to fight its own lawsuit against Fanatics, accusing the company of anticompetitive behavior and monopolizing the sports card industry. This came after Fanatics acquired exclusive licensing rights from the NBA and NFL, which were previously owned by Panini. After April 2026, Fanatics will receive exclusive licenses for NBA, NFL, MLB, Premier League, F1 and WWE.
Bryce Miller, 10, holds a stack of sports cards he received from the Panini Group booth during the 45th National Sports Collectors Convention at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, July 31, 2025. (Audrey Richardson for The Washington Post/Getty Images)
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Fanatics denied Panini’s claims and filed a countersuit alleging that the competitor had waged a “prolonged, unlawful and deceptive campaign of unfair trade practices, strong-arm tactics and wrongful misconduct” in an attempt to force Fanatics to pay a huge sum for Panini to terminate its licenses in 2022.
