Fanatics will return the Topps brand to fully licensed NFL trading-card production for the first time since 2016, unveiling a program of high-end patch and autograph cards as it begins a long-term partnership with the league’s players. The company said Thursday it will launch 2025 Topps Chrome Football on April 15, kicking off a 20-year arrangement that builds on Fanatics’ NFL Players Association agreement that began in 2023.
The new offerings include a debut “PREM1ERE” patch program that places one-of-one numbered Rookie PREM1ERE Patch Autograph cards into packs, using patches cut from the jerseys players wore in their first regular-season game. Fanatics also introduced NFL Honors Gold Shield Autograph cards — on-card autographs paired with gold NFL shield patches taken from the 2025 jerseys of the 2024 Associated Press award winners. Those players named by Fanatics include quarterback Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills), running back Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles), cornerback Pat Surtain II (Denver Broncos), quarterback Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders) and linebacker Jared Verse (Los Angeles Rams).
“It’s a spectacular moment for our company, for the industry and for collectors,” Michael Mahan, Fanatics’ CEO of collectibles, told ESPN. “The things we're doing with the PREM1ERE and NFL Honors Gold Shield patches deepen and strengthen connections and storytelling. … We're enhancing fan experience.” Fanatics also said the product line will feature Fanatics Collectible exclusive athletes — a mix of current stars such as Daniels, Drake Maye, C.J. Stroud and Bo Nix, and marquee names including Jerry Rice and Tom Brady — and that it plans pack giveaways and live-breaking events at the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh (April 23-25).
The move is the latest chapter in Fanatics’ aggressive expansion into sports collectibles. The company acquired Topps in 2022 for $500 million after securing future exclusive MLB rights in 2021, and it became the exclusive NBA trading-card licensee in October of that year. Fanatics’ collection strategy has emphasized game-worn “relics,” and the NFL effort will push that further: Casey Collins, the NFL’s senior vice president of consumer products and licensing, said the league pressed Fanatics to innovate in relics and that the company will embed more authentic game-used merchandise into cards — not just jerseys but items such as pants, footballs, coins, pylons, headbands and towels.
The new licensing arrangement has not been without contention. Panini, which had previously produced NFL and NBA trading cards, filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging Fanatics has “created an entirely new monopoly spanning multiple leagues and multiple players associations.” Fanatics has countersued, accusing Panini of unfair competition, tortious interference with business relations and breach of a duty to negotiate in good faith. The NFL and Fanatics declined to comment on the litigation.
Collectors and industry observers will watch closely to see how Fanatics’ high-profile, memorabilia-driven approach plays in a market that has been consolidating licensing rights and experimenting with premium insert programs. With the Topps Chrome release set for mid-April and the PREM1ERE and Gold Shield products positioned as ultra-rare collector highlights, Fanatics is signaling it intends to make a major imprint on the modern era of football card collecting.