Published June 25, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

Fanatics Fest 2025 was nothing short of a spectacle. By every metric—attendance, transactions, energy—in only it’s second ever show it eclipsed The National—an event that’s been held annually since 1980.

The turnout was massive. With so many superstar athletes in attendance, ESPN and SportsCenter covered it throughout the weekend. Kevin Durant found out live on stage that he’d been traded to the Houston Rockets during a panel discussion. Tom Brady won the inaugural Fanatics Games and donated most of his $1M prize back to the fans.

Major athletes. Major celebrities. Major hype. It may have been the moment the hobby finally went mainstream.

And that’s exactly why we need to start asking some harder questions.

Because with growth comes risk. With excitement comes exploitation. And with tens of thousands of kids walking those show floors—why were FanDuel Casino ads plastered everywhere? Why were gambling promotions being served up in the same spaces we celebrate trading cards and collectibles?

This is how it happens. Slowly at first, then all at once.

Unchecked influence. Normalized addiction. Platforms and advertisers who don’t differentiate between 9-year-olds and 39-year-olds—just users, just conversions, just clicks, just revenue.

As the hobby goes bigger, we need to get louder. We desperately need guardrails. Education. Warnings. Opt-outs. Resources. With so many bad actors and predatory behaviors across the hobby, we must protect the young, uneducated children who are incredibly impressionable and deeply vulnerable.

Because if we don’t fight for that layer of protection now, by the time the spiral becomes obvious, it’ll already be too late. There is no one watching over this space. No governing body. No accountability. Just money and momentum.

Collectors MD exists to change that. To be the layer no one else is building. To reform the hobby before it reforms us into something unrecognizable.

This isn’t about canceling the hobby—or being overly cynical. We’re just refusing to look the other way. We love this space. We believe in its potential. But real love means protecting it, challenging what’s broken, and making sure the next generation can collect with joy, not regret.

Let Fanatics Fest be the wake-up call. This isn’t niche anymore. This is big business. And if we’re not careful, the soul of the hobby will be the price we pay for its success.

#CollectorsMD
As the hobby goes mainstream, the stakes get higher. Reform isn’t optional—it’s urgent.

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