Fanatics to launch first credit card as part of broader deal with American Express

Cnbc · 🇺🇸 public United States · May 20, 2026 · 737 words · By Ian Thomas

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Fanatics to launch first credit card as part of broader deal with American Express

Fanatics plans to launch its first credit card later this year, further expanding the growing number of touchpoints the sports retail giant has with fans.

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Fanatics plans to launch its first credit card later this year, further expanding the growing number of touchpoints the sports retail giant has with fans.

Why it matters

The new card, which will launch on the American Express network in the U.S., will allow fans to earn FanCash, Fanatics' digital reward currency, which can be redeemed for apparel, tickets, trading cards, collectibles and other experiences.

Common ground

It will serve as a further expansion of Fanatics' loyalty program, called Fanatics ONE, which it launched last year and now has more than 30 million users.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Fanatics to launch first credit card as part of broader deal with American Express?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Fanatics also launched prediction markets last year?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/20/fanatics-credit-card-deal-american-express.html

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 7

info Single Source 5

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

check_circle

Claim 1: “Fanatics also launched prediction markets last year.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources (Fast Company, Odds Shark, and another web result) confirm that Fanatics launched a stand-alone prediction markets app.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics, the global sports platform, is out to prove that sportsbooks will be the emerging industry’s biggest winners. Today, Fanatics is launching a stand-alone predictions market app designed to ap…
https://www.fastcompany.com/91452559/exclusive-fanatics-laun…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The sports apparel and betting business have launched a prediction market in partnership with Crypto[dot]com.The app launched in 10 US states initially with plans to go further, and supplements the 22…
https://newsletter.sportingcrypto.com/p/fanatics-launch-pred…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — + Fanatics Launch: Fanatics launches its prediction markets to customers, becoming the first sportsbook to do so. + 24 States: Fanatics Markets is now available in 24 states across the US - Alabama, A…
https://www.oddsshark.com/industry-news/fanatics-launch-pred…

schedule

Claim 2: “the financial services firm is signing a partnership with Fanatics to be its official payments partner at select retail and online locations globally, and a presenting sponsor of Fanatics Fest.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 3: “the 100 million people in the Fanatics' ecosystem”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 4: “the company had about $8 billion in total revenue in 2024, according to previous CNBC reporting.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence is completely irrelevant to the claim, discussing US government revenue and world population, with no mention of Fanatics' revenue.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Victoria Nuland gives a speech at the National Press Club, Washington DC confirming that the USA had spent $5 billion promoting 'democracy' in the Ukraine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPVs5VuI8XI

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — . The U.S. government has collected $-- in fiscal year --. Fiscal year-to-date (since October --) total updated monthly using the Monthly Treasury Statement (MTS) dataset. Compared to the federal reve…
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/gover…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — World population has reached 8 billion on November 15, 2022 according to the United Nations.
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

schedule

Claim 5: “American Express will also be adding the Fanatics credit card as one of its transfer partners, allowing U.S. Amex membership rewards members to convert their rewards into FanCash.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 6: “The new card, which will launch on the American Express network in the U.S.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided consists of general company descriptions and Wikipedia entries about the company's founding, but contains no mention of a credit card launch on the American Express network.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Football Fanatics, which later became Fanatics, Inc., was founded by brothers Alan and Mitchell Trager in Jacksonville, Florida. They initially started with a brick-and-mortar store in Orange Park Mal…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanatics,_Inc.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics.com is the ultimate sports apparel and Fan Gear Store, featuring football Jerseys, T-shirts, Hats, Collectibles and merchandise for fans of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Soccer, and College.
https://www.fanatics.com/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics offers the broadest assortment of fan merchandise and memorabilia worldwide.
https://www.fanaticsinc.com/

schedule

Claim 7: “a new partnership with the NFL that sees it become the league's official payments partner, replacing rival Visa.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 8: “Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said on CNBC earlier this month that the company will approach $14 billion in revenue this year.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The search results provided for this claim are irrelevant, discussing Ukraine investments and women's sports markets, with no mention of Michael Rubin or Fanatics' 2024 revenue projections.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — North America, which is forecast to generate $1.6 billion in revenue, is predicted to remain the largest market in 2026, accounting for 54% of total global revenue. Europe is expected to maintain its …
https://deloitte.wsj.com/cmo/womens-sports-market-set-to-rea…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — When you save your YouTube cookies choice below, Revenue will save a cookie on your device to remember your choice. This Revenue cookie is set as a session cookie and will be deleted once you close th…
https://www.revenue.ie/

verified

Claim 9: “Driven by its 2022 acquisition of trading card company Topps, Fanatics has landed recent deals with the NFL, NBA and FIFA around collectibles and trading cards.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and news reports from ESPN confirm the acquisition of Topps and Fanatics' role as a global sports platform involving trading cards and collectibles.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics, Inc. is a global sports platform that consists of several businesses, including licensed sports merchandise, trading cards and collectibles, sports betting, special events, and live commerce…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanatics,_Inc.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics, a leading global digital sports platform, has completed the acquisition of Topps trading cards, the preeminent licensed trading card brand that has serviced collectors, fans, and retailers f…
https://www.fanaticsinc.com/press-releases/fanatics-acquires…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics has acquired Topps trading cards, the company announced Tuesday.The deal means Fanatics Trading Cards' MLB and MLBPA rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards -- originally s…
https://www.espn.in/espn/story/_/id/32988992/fanatics-acquir…

info

Claim 10: “Fanatics plans to launch its first credit card later this year”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results discuss an Amazon Pay ICICI card and a Fanatics online casino, but none of the evidence mentions a plan to launch a Fanatics credit card.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Wondering if the Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card is still worth it after its recent devaluation?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPFdnM1bVZY

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics plans to launch an online casino product by the end of the year but could delay its release until early 2024 if the product doesn’t meet the company’s quality standards. That’s according to A…
https://pokerindustrypro.com/news/article/219854-fanatics-pl…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics.
https://www.fanatics.com/?gad_source=1

schedule

Claim 11: “Amex now has partnerships with more than 50 leagues, teams, venues and events”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 12: “Among American Express card holders, nearly 80% identify as sports fans”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 13: “Kain said that Fanatics is on track to issue more than $1 billion of its FanCash this year”

SINGLE SOURCE

While multiple sources confirm the existence and use of 'FanCash' within the Fanatics Sportsbook ecosystem, none of the provided evidence mentions a specific projection of issuing over $1 billion of it in 2024.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Explaining the Fanatics Sportsbook promo code. With the Game Day Guarantee, just apply your offer in the bet slip and place a $1+ football cash wager with odds of +300 or longer on any Game Day. If yo…
https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/fanatics-sportsbook-p…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Fanatics Sportsbook promo gets new users up to $1,000 matched in FanCash over the course of 10 days.You can get up to $1000 back in FanCash with the Fanatics Sportsbook promo. Here are the details…
https://www.rotowire.com/news/fanatics-sportsbook-promo-get-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics Sportsbook customers are also choosing to bet with Fanatics because of the versatility of FanCash and how it brings the Fanatics ecosystem to the forefront. Customers can get up to 10% FanCas…
https://www.fanaticsinc.com/fanatics-sportsbook-online-exper…

check_circle

Claim 14: “It will serve as a further expansion of Fanatics' loyalty program, called Fanatics ONE, which it launched last year and now has more than 30 million users.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm the launch of the Fanatics ONE loyalty program, including a dedicated launch announcement and a report on its commercialization via AT&T.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Fanatics has launched a new rewards program, Fanatics ONE, to reward consumers in its sports-focused businesses.
https://www.sportsbookreview.com/news/fanatics-launches-comp…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The deal marks the first time Fanatics has directly commercialised its loyalty program — transforming what was once a retention tool into a standalone revenue stream. From Engagement Tool to Business …
https://www.outsidesportlab.com/fanatics-loyalty-platform-at…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — New Fanatics Loyalty Program Introduces Fans to the Brand's Growing Team. The platform debuts a tiered rewards system. The Fanatics ONE loyalty program on the Fanatics app.
https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/fanatics-one-loyalty-…

check_circle

Claim 15: “Earlier this year, Fanatics signed a partnership with AT&T aimed at reaching fans in a variety of ways.”

CORROBORATED

Although the specific 'partnership' search result was listed as 'no evidence found' in the summary, the evidence for Claim 2 explicitly mentions a 'Fanatics Monetises Loyalty Platform With AT&T Sponsorship Deal', which corroborates the partnership.

help

Claim 16: “Rubin said on CNBC that Fanatics' collectibles business is on track for about $5 billion in revenue this year.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim.

schedule

Claim 17: “the card will be issued by First Electronic Bank and managed by Imprint.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.