How to Crush it at Fanatics Fest … LA!
Ted Mann
We went to Fanatics Fest NYC so here's how to crush it at the next FF in LA!
How to Crush it at Fanatics Fest … LA!
Fanatics Fest NYC was unreal — 3 days of incredible sports activations, celebrity athletes, and trading cards. Surely it is the first of many Fanatics events to come. Next up is Fanatics Fest LA in early 2025. And soon after expect regional Fanatics shows, possibly at ballparks in major US cities.
Many have said that the show was more of a Comicon for Sports than a card show, which the Card Dealer Pro team would agree with. But we wouldn’t agree with anyone who says that FanFest can’t be every bit as successful for a card dealer as, say, The National or a local card show. You just can’t enter into it expecting to repeat the same playbook as you have at other shows. Here are 5 tips for how to get the most out of Fanatics Fest as a dealer:
Optimize for $50-$200 cards. Leave the dollar bins at home. Unless you have some crazy valuable slabs to show off, you’re most likely to move cards that are around $100. The younger crowd gravitates to modern patch, auto, and numbered cards.
Get a celeb to your booth. Easier said than done, right? The athlete and celebrity lineup at Fanatics Fest was insane, and the organizers WANT to drive traffic to the Topps Hobby Hall area. If you see an angle with your inventory and one of the celebs, reach out to show organizers to see if you can get a “stunt” appearance at your booth. Maybe you strike gold, like Kevin Randall (aka DaCaptain37) who had Tom Brady swing by to buy his cards, and share anecdotes about how his auto evolved over the years.
Consider ripping or breaking or giveaways. Only thing that drove more booth traffic than celebs: live breakers, attendees ripping wax, or free packs. Make a spectacle of it.
Leave the wax at home. Most dealers struggled to bring in wax, plus you’re competing with the Big 3 + Topps itself. Stick to singles.
Look to show-exclusive products for arbitrage. Many dealers made back the full cost of their booth flipping Cactus Jack and Topps Chrome FanaticsFestNYC boxes for 2-10x.