The 2026 NFL season has officially kicked off, and for Fanatics, it’s yet another football campaign to impact and enhance the fan experience. His best moment came during his WWE entrance, rocking a Tom Brady jersey to start, then following it up with two thumbs down — ripping his competitor’s jersey off for a shirt that said “Fans are athletes too.” after an impressive performance throughout the competition. New Yorker Liam Beal finished in second place, taking the competition by storm in dominating fashion. It wasn’t the greatest football player of all time or the greatest wrestler; instead, it was a Grammy-winning music star. In one of the weekend’s biggest surprises, Justin Bieber captured the $1 million grand prize. The best six scores will make up the final total with the lowest two dropped from consideration.

Dennis finished in third place, while UFC fighter Justin Gaethje finished second behind Brady. The top three performers at each event will earn a trip to New York to compete at the Javits Center alongside confirmed athletes like NFL legend Rob Gronkowski, NBA guard James Harden and WWE superstars Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, with more athletes expected to be confirmed in the coming months. The in-person qualifier option will be through visits at select Dick’s House of Sport locations across the country, including Knoxville, Tennessee (May 9); Kennesaw, Georgia (May 30); Houston, Texas (June 13); and Boston (June 28). The Fanatics Games are returning for 2026 Fanatics Fest with a $2 million prize pool. Under most sportsbooks’ rules, the prop bet built around him is lost. We are creating an exciting, engaging, and immersive sports betting experience for all sports fans.

Fanatics Betting & Gaming is the sportsbook and online casino division of Fanatics, and is led by CEO Matt King, formerly of FanDuel. In April 2025, Fanatics Collectibles launched Fanatics Live in the UK following its success in the U.S. The live shopping app, led by CEO Nick Bell, who joined the division in February 2023, allows users to participate in real-time shopping events. In April 2026, it was announced that Fanatics would begin producing fully licensed NFL cards for the first time since 2016. Fanatics had previously worked with the NHL, making replica jerseys for fans after a deal signed in 2017.

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The 2025 event of shooting a puck into a dryer proved a challenge for many. For instance, the NFL passing competition from last year will be a field goal kick this year. Second prize is a 2025 Ferrari, and third place receives a Lionel Messi Patch autograph (worth $250,000). There were more than 10 times the number of applicants this year than last. “In 2026, we’re expanding that competition and giving more fans across the country a direct path to earn their spot.

Fans who finished in the top 10 spots are expected to return in 2026, raising the stakes even higher. Standard goals are worth 2 points each, while the Money Ball goal earns 5 points. Players take five shots against a live goalkeeper before attempting one final Money Ball shot through a half-sized goal.

• The Fanatics Games are returning for 2026 Fanatics Fest with a $2 million prize pool.
• The winner of the competition will be taking home a grand prize of $1 million.
• For the 2026 edition of the action-packed weekend, more than 200,000 fans made their way to the Jacob Javits Center for one of the world’s largest sports festivals.
• In one of the weekend’s biggest surprises, Justin Bieber captured the $1 million grand prize.
• In 2026, the competition returns bigger, faster, and more competitive than ever with streamlined scoring, enhanced gameplay, and a production experience built for both in-venue excitement and global livestream audiences.

Fanatics Games will bring together 50 everyday fans and a total group of 50 athletes, celebrities and creators once more, and they plan on making the competition bigger, faster and more competitive than it was in 2025. And fans who wish to participate and can’t make the in-person qualifiers will still be able to send in a video application like last year, showcasing their skills and sharing why they feel they deserve to compete. The NFL on Thursday announced new sportsbook partnerships, with Fanatics joining DraftKings and FanDuel as official betting operators of the league. Fanatics is combining its sportsbook, casino and prediction markets into one app, Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King exclusively tells Axios. Fanatics has launched a unified mobile app that combines its sportsbook, online casino, and prediction-market products in a bid to become a broader super app for sports fans.

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Make them all and walk away with a perfect 15-point score. The winner of the competition will be taking home a grand prize of $1 million. You must be at least 18 years of age to enter the Fanatics Games. To enter the competition, prospective participants must purchase a ticket to Fanatics Fest.

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Competitors take two shots from 15 feet, two from 30 feet, and finish with a high-stakes MoneyPuck shot from 40 feet. Every strike on the first five pitches earns 2 points, while the Money Ball strike is worth 5 points. Punch-force results are converted into a score ranging from 0 to 10 points, rewarding both power and precision.

The Fanatics Games are going to offer the chance for everyday folks to test their athletic skills against some of the greatest to play those sports. He outscored athletes such as James Harden, Tyreek Hill, Dwight Howard, Gronkowski, Michael Chandler and Micah Parsons, who all finished in the top 20 of the athletes who competed in the event. That performance helped Brady earn 399.1 total points in the Fanatics Games.

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As for the other participants in the Fanatics Games, UFC fighter Justin Gaethje finished in second with 345.5 points. Brady’s participation in the Fanatics Games was just one of the few viral moments he had from Fanatics Fest over the weekend. The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback won the inaugural Fanatics Games at this weekend’s Fanatics Fest in New York, earning him a $1 million prize. But perhaps the biggest draw for the Fanatics Games is a rematch between reigning champion and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and fan champion Matt Dennis, a Philadelphia teacher who wowed the Fanatics Fest crowd last year in the inaugural games. "In 2026, we’re expanding that competition and giving more fans across the country a direct path to earn their spot. The stakes are higher, the format is sharper and the games are only getting better." "What made Fanatics Games special in year one was seeing fans and world-class athletes compete side by side under the same rules and feed off each other’s energy," Lance Fensterman, CEO of Fanatics Events, said in a press release.

As part of the evolution Best fanatics casino games of Fanatics Games, for the first time, fans will have an in-person qualifier option by visiting select DICK’S House of Sport locations across the country, including, Knoxville, TN, on May 9; Kennesaw, GA, on May 30; Houston, TX, on June 13; and Boston, MA, on June 28, where they have the chance to compete in a sport-specific challenge tied directly to the 2026 format. The weekend’s marquee attraction was the Fanatics Games, a multi-sport “Pros vs. Joes” competition that featured 50 fans competing alongside 50 celebrities across eight challenges for a $1 million grand prize. The Fanatics Games is a competition that has professional athletes and celebrities facing off against regular fans in a series of skill-based challenges for prizes and cash.

Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 will be held this weekend at the Javits Center, and the biggest draw will likely be the all-new Fanatics Games competition. The event featured the inaugural Fanatics Games, a series of competitions in which professional athletes and celebrities competed against fans for prizes and charitable donations. Fanatics Collectibles was launched in 2021, following reports that the company obtained exclusive licensing agreements to produce trading cards for several sports properties, including MLB, MLBPA, NBA, NBPA, and NFLPA. In December 2020, Fanatics acquired WinCraft, a licensed hard goods and promotional products company, which increased the company’s presence with non-apparel merchandise.

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There will be 50 spots available to ordinary people to enter and compete against their sporting heroes and other celebrities such as comedian Tiffany Haddish and pro boxer Logan Paul. Throw passes in competition against seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was also among the athletes who participated, struggling in the pitching accuracy challenge. Matt Dennish, a 39-year-old teacher from Pennsylvania, finished with 326 points to place third. "So you’re witnessing the greatest ever, and I hope you guys will appreciate that." However, he awarded $5,000 to each of the 50 fans who participated in the Fanatics Games, while the rest of that money will go to charity.

Manning was also one of the athletes who participated, finishing in fifth with 314.5 total points as Brady was able to get some revenge over the quarterback who defeated him in two Super Bowls. One of the other competitions was a WWE Superstar entrance. With even bigger star-studded panels, live programming, autograph sessions and meet-and-greats, Fanatics expects to break that total once more as it continues to give fans opportunities of a lifetime.