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Judge Tosses Monopoly Claims Against Sports Card Giants
25 Mar
Summary
- Judge dismissed all claims against Fanatics, sports leagues, and player associations.
- Plaintiffs failed to prove they overpaid for trading cards due to alleged monopoly.
- Court noted Panini held key licenses when the lawsuit was filed in March 2025.
A New York federal judge dismissed all claims on Monday in a lawsuit accusing Fanatics, the NFL, NBA, MLB, their players associations, and OneTeam of monopolizing the sports trading card market. The plaintiffs, who cited Panini's antitrust lawsuit against Fanatics, alleged they paid inflated prices for cards.
The court found that the named plaintiffs did not adequately allege they overpaid for trading cards. Notably, at the time the lawsuit was filed in March 2025, Panini held the NBA and NFL licenses, not Fanatics' Topps, which acquired them later.
Regarding MLB cards, the court ruled the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that price differences between Topps' licensed cards and Panini's unlicensed products were due to anticompetitive conduct. Fanatics expressed satisfaction with the ruling, calling the suit baseless. Plaintiffs' attorney indicated they are evaluating their next steps.
