🧩 Why people say it feels like a monopoly

1. Exclusive licenses across all major sports

Fanatics has secured long-term exclusive deals with:

These deals mean only Fanatics (using the Topps brand) can produce officially licensed cards for those leagues.

👉 By 2026, they effectively control all three major U.S. sports card licenses.

2. They bought Topps

Fanatics didn’t just win licenses—they also:

This gave them instant dominance in baseball and a launchpad for other sports.

3. Competitors are getting squeezed out

The biggest example is Panini:

There are also claims Fanatics:

4. Lawsuits literally claim “monopoly”

Multiple lawsuits (including class actions) argue:

⚖️ Why it’s not officially a monopoly (yet)

Legally, a monopoly requires more than dominance—it requires illegal suppression of competition.

Right now:

Also:

👉 So technically, competition exists—just not in licensed cards, which is the key issue.

🧠 The real nuance (this is important)

Fanatics doesn’t have a monopoly on:

But they do have near-total control over “official” cards, which is what most collectors care about.

That’s why many people call it a:

“licensed monopoly” or “quasi-monopoly”

📊 What this means for the hobby

Potential positives

Potential negatives

🧾 Bottom line