Fanatics has signed English soccer star David Beckham to an exclusive trading card and memorabilia deal, the company announced Monday.
The first partnership between Beckham and Fanatics, the agreement includes trading cards, trading card games, stickers and autographed memorabilia.
Beckham had previously been exclusive to rival card manufacturer Panini America after signing a deal with the company in 2021.
Financial details of the partnership weren’t announced.
Beckham’s first cards under the Fanatics umbrella will be included in 2026 Premier League Chrome, which is scheduled to release Thursday.
Fanatics also becomes the sole distributor of Beckham’s memorabilia and collectibles, including autographed jerseys, balls, photographs and match-used items, under the new deal.
“In terms of working directly with him, he’s one of the few players Topps has never worked with,” David Leiner, Fanatics Collectibles’ president of trading cards, told cllct. “ We had done some cards, some parts of his image, all that stuff when we were a Premier League rights holder. But we had never had autographs.
“Premier League Chrome, Feb. 5, first time he’s going to have autograph cards with Topps, so we’re extremely excited about that. He’s culturally relevant, he’s beloved globally, so he’s been at the top of our list for some time.”
Beckham’s addition is expected to be particularly beneficial to the company’s English Premier League license. Fanatics and the EPL agreed to an exclusive mutli-year deal in 2024 after the league had spent six years with Panini.
According to Leiner, Beckham will play a significant role in the company’s marketing push for upcoming EPL products.
“I think it just makes the portfolio a heck of a lot better, gives us a lot of upgraded ammunition here to work with,” Leiner said. “The deal includes significant marketing. ... We plan to engage with David and do a lot of fun things for fans and collectors, and hopefully bring more and more folks into the collecting world with David.
“So there's meet and greets in there, social-media content. You'll see us do some really fun stuff with David to promote the collectibles category.”
Leiner and Fanatics also hope Beckham’s addition to the company’s lineup of exclusive soccer stars — which includes Jude Bellingham, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane — helps expand the sport’s collectibles market internationally. Cards have grown rapidly domestically, and Topps has pushed to facilitate similar growth abroad with events and even a retail location.
Fanatics opened its first flagship hobby store in London in April 2025 and has put a focus on international events, including a collaboration with MLB for the Tokyo Series last year.
“We believe soccer collectibles are very underpenetrated relative to the size of the fanbase,” Leiner said. “Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, and soccer has a ways to go until it becomes a big collectible category.”
“It’s one of our fastest, if not the fastest growing part of our business,” Leiner added. “We want to convert fans to collectors from all parts of Asia, Europe, Latin America. North America is one of the more mature markets — it still continues to grow at a pretty impressive clip, but we’re seeing the most growth, the highest degree of growth, in Europe and Asia.
“A player like David Beckham, he’s just going to continue to elevate collectibles, elevate the Topps brand.”
Beckham is the latest coup as Fanatics looks to rapidly expand its lineup of exclusive signers across all categories. The company currently counts Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James — James spent 20-plus years with Upper Deck — as key pieces with the manufacturer now operating an exclusive license with the NBA.
Fanatics has also made significant progress in the non-sports and entertainment category while scoring autographs from key names in brands ranging from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and even SpongeBob SquarePants.
“I would love to continue to build the portfolio and find more names to delight people, not just in the world of sport,” Leiner said. “I think you’re seeing us more and more in the entertainment space, too. We’ve had big success with our Disney, Marvel, Star Wars portfolio. There’s big names, fans of the game and other people on the celebrity side. There’s stuff we want to do. Big stuff.”
Kevin Jackson contributed reporting to this story.