FIFA and Fanatics have expanded its partnership with a long-term, exclusive collectibles licensing deal.
Now, the two organizations will collaborate on more physical and digital collectibles, including trading cards, stickers, and trading card games, with the partnership set to begin in full in 2031.
An example of upcoming memorabilia includes the player jersey patch program, which will be included in football trading cards from 2031 onward. During the partnership, Fanatics will distribute over $150 million worth of collectibles for free to young people and young footballers worldwide.
"Across the sports landscape, we see that Fanatics are driving massive innovation in collectibles that provides fans with a new, meaningful way to engage with their favorite teams and with their favorite players," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
"From FIFA’s point of view, we can globalize that fan engagement precisely thanks to our global tournament portfolio," he continued. "And this provides another important commercial revenue stream that we channel back, as always, into the game, into football."
The official World Cup Final press conference will be hosted at Fanatics Fest on July 17, two days before the FIFA World Cup Final. A massive watch party for the finals will also be held at the festival on July 19.
"This is truly a historic day in our company’s history," Fanatics founder and CEO, Michael Rubin said. "Global football is the biggest growth opportunity in sports, and when you combine the power of FIFA with the innovation and entrepreneurial backbone of Fanatics, together we’re poised to elevate storytelling and collectibles around the game in a way that’s never been seen before."
