FANATICS FEST 2025

Fanatics Fest NYC was exhilarating in its second year, bringing top athletes and fans together like never before.

The festival presented a massive card and collectibles show, autograph meets, athlete and celeb photo opps, interactive experiences, panels, and shows, over three days, June 20 to 22, 2025, at the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan.

We loved seeing the break area, as well as cards of of favorite players, 1of1s, signed logo patches, vintage HOF rookies, and so much more. Signed jerseys, sportswear, sneakers, hats, memorabilia sprawled throughout the room.

The Activations and Fanatics Fest debut “Fanatics Games,” were next level. The new skills-based sports competition this year for athletes and fans had $2 million in cash and prize for pros and fans to compete. A mix of pros and fans took the top 10, with the event won by Tom Brady. After winning the allaround, Brady went on to purchase the 3rd prize Lebron 2003-04 Topps Chrome LeBron James Rookie Gold Refractor card, that was such poetic justice making this year super special. He went on to drop knowledge on panels, throw balls to fans, coldplunge with Kevin Hart.

The highlight for us was the Panel and Special Surprise with Tom Brady, Travis Scott, & Michael Rubin, moderated by Oakley Global President, Caio Amato. Like hitting a major trifecta, it proved to be an insane microcosm of Fanatics Fest.

WHO RUNS NY PANEL: DEREK JETER, AROD & MORE DISH ON THE MAKING OF DYNASTIES

It was an honor to catch the end of the Only in New York: 27 Rings panel in the theater just before. Yankees legends, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and special guest Spike Lee dove into what makes dynasties; the legacy of the NY Yankees; BTS stories, and more. It was hosted by CC Sabathia & AJ Andrews.

It was cool to hear about being on winning teams; having the discipline and grit to go train and go through the ups and downs; and anecdotes like Reggie Jackson strikeouts; city rivalries and more.

There were thousands of people, but the vibe in this room was family - well until someone asked a corny question and you might get sprayed by a super-soaker courtesy of Spilke Lee's call. It was pointed out that one guy who asked an awkward question was wearing two hats, so sometimes it's too easy.

LEGENDARY PANEL: BRADY, RUBIN & TRAVIS SCOTT TALK ABOUT ATHENTICITY & PARTNERSHIP COLLABS

Michael Rubin talking about The Art of Partnership & Collaboration is always a masterclass. Proud and exuberant, he navigated some follow-ups of Oakley Global President, Caio Amato's questions, which peppered the audience with nuggets on business strategy and whimsical anecdotes on style splurges and even quick destination travel just to lock it in.

Beyond bling, Rubin fondly volunteered that Travis gets a blank-slate for his creative genius to flow and that they put together a quick collab just six days before the show, from the vision, to making it, to the many layers and partners quickly getting on board by phone executing with joyful precision.

Brady acknowledged his genuine love for cards; elaborated on CardVault and nodded about the vision and working with Fanatics and Topps that it's a great way to have serious collectors, fans, kids and hobbyists of all ages involved.

Congratulations to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg, who recorded a short video that played celebrating the Oakley Meta HSTN Performance AI Glasses before what ensued, and Scott took the stage.

OAKLEY META HSTN EXPERIENCE AMPED THE SURPRISE TRAVIS SCOTT PERFORMANCE

[Smoke] Bang! We went from Panel to Performance! His DJ walked on. The crowd rushed the stage. It was on!

I slid on the Limited Edition Oakley Meta HSTNs Performance AI Glasses that I had been fitted for before the panel/show (thanks Meta). The HSTN (pronounced "HOW-stuhn") fit well and I felt that they were stylish and sporty, great for adventures, around town, and upscale special events to capture moments you may come by surprise hands-free.

I felt more front row with a refreshing phone-free flow, who wants to be chained down behind a chunky mobile device. Instead, hands-free means instantly transported and I was right up in concert-mode and enabled to take in Travis' energy and capture it in a more intimate way.

Livvy Dunne was a couple seats down, taking in the panel and show. We noticed she did some cool haggling buying a Paul Skenes card in some of the fest recap.

Seeing the content later, the video was supersharp (3K UHD), and boasted superb audio quality where you can enjoy those memories. The super stabilization scored with well-grounded video, in spite and revelry of the loyal bouncing crowd and being mosh-pit adjacent. It was easy to use in a noisy, crowded environment with short and longer press button on the frame (otherwise, you can use voice command).

Amazing to later see how the show looked from Travis' POV! As he laced across the stage we see overjoyed fans raging and soaking in some of our favorite hits. His pop by beyond the smoke was fierce as always. It's been ages since I'd seen him by Z's Pent.

It was great to be guests of Oakley Meta! You can see more first hand from Paul Farkas about this epic concert from his POV by checking out the videos on Athleisure's YouTube Channel or go directly here, here, and here.

IG @oakleymeta

@meta

@fanatics

@fanaticsfest

ON THE GROUND COVERAGE | Paul Farkas

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 38 - 42 Getty Images Assignment | PG 45 - 49 Matt Monath MetaXOakley | PG 50 Oakley Meta HSTN | PG 52 - 65 Paul Farkas |

Read the JUN ISSUE #114 of Athleisure Mag and see FANATICS FEST 2025 in mag.

9DRIP STORI3S | J.D. MARTINEZ

Read the SEP ISSUE #105 of Athleisure Mag and see 9DRIP STORI3S | J.D. Martinez in mag.

OMG SEASON | J.D. MARTINEZ

It was great to spend some time with NY Mets’ DH Slugger, J.D. Martinez to talk about his playing with the Mets; his nickname 'Flaco;' his go-to workout exercises; his music taste and the OMG team hit anthem; and more.

As a player with asthma, he also highlighted how important it is to consider having a vaccine for Pneumococcal Pneumonia, especially with certain risk factors, such as having asthma.

This conversation was brought to us by Pfizer, who informs that Pneumococcal Pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease. Symptoms can hit without warning and take you out for weeks, possibly even landing people in the hospital. You are at higher risk being age 65 years or higher, or 19 and older with certain chronic health conditions, such as asthma, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, diabetes, and more, according to Pfizer. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if pneumococcal vaccination is right for you.

Visit https://www.KnowPneumonia.com/ to learn more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Your nickname is Flaco how did you get that nickname?

J.D. MARTINEZ: My hitting coach when I was in Little League growing up, he was my mentor, Paul Casanova. I was super skinny, and he just started calling me Flaco. That was my nickname. He'd call me Flaco. It's one of those things, through Miami. It was like my code word almost, where like you'd call me Flaco, you knew I hit with Cassie, and I worked with Cassie. (Editor's Note: Paul Casanova's teammates also called him 'Cazzie')

AM: You were diagnosed with Asthma posing challenges way back in Little League, what risks does having Asthma play in sports and what can people do about it?

JDM: Asthma was a big part of my childhood. I remember being in Little League, and I think I was maybe 3 year old when I was diagnosed with it, and being in Little League and trying to play baseball with asthma and constantly being in and out of the hospital, like once a week with my mom and my dad. Throughout my whole career it's just been managing it, and finding ways to manage it, like with medicines and stuff. That's why I'm here today and partnered with Pfizer to help spread the word about Pneumococcal Pneumonia, and how having asthma puts me at over 5x higher risk for the disease, compared to healthy adults age 18-64. So, I got vaccinated to help protect myself and I recommend that everyone with asthma to talk to your pharmacist or your doctor or go to KnowPneumonia.com. It's very important for me. I just know so many kids that should know this stuff playing with asthma.

AM: When working out, what are 3 go-to exercises for you?

JDM: For me, it's turning my hips on, doing a whole hip circuit - a routine that kind of loosens up my hips and strengthens them at the same time. Then from there, I really turn on my core and stabilize my trunk. Then I like to do legs, because they are my weakest part of my body, so for me, I feel so much strength, when my legs are strong, so I like to do legs as much as I can.

AM: What music do you listen to energizing for the game? This whole OMG song really took off!!

JDM: For me, it's kind of whatever is hot at the time. I know sometimes we're in the clubhouse and Winker's putting on some rap, and if we're riding with that, we're riding with that - and feeling like you're Eminem I guess, and you're having fun with it. And for me, EDM, like House Music, with a lot of beats, that's what gets me going. That's kind of what me and Mark Vientos listen to in the gym when we're warming up and activating. And then obviously you got Oh My God, OMG, our victory song, you know, and the whole Iggy thing that happened. (Editor's Note: Met's teammate José Iglesias is also a Latin Pop music artist who performs under the name Candelita). It was hilarious. It was just funny how that whole thing came about..

AM: Sure, well you said you had to hear it first - and then you were like Wow it's good right --

JDM: Yeah I was in Triple-A, and all of a sudden Iggy was like, "I got to show you this song, I got to show you this song." I was kind of making fun of him, I was like, "what are you like Marc Anthony now," because he was being represented by Marc Anthony for some time now, coming up with all of these songs. And he was like, "you got to hear this song," and then he played it for me in the speaker, and he was like, "I think this one is going to be the one that really blows up, like really helps me." I said, "dude, this is really good, I kind of like this! If you get called up to play for the Mets, we're playing this, so you gotta send it to me..' He wanted to play it for the walk up song, and so when he got called up I got it played on the speaker for everyone, kind of in honor of Iggy coming up. And the team was in a fragile state at that point, we weren't playing very well, and we kind of all jumped on board and it became our team anthem I would say. We made it a joke that every time we hit a home run we would play it.. so then they did it, and it kind of caught all of the fans off guard.

AM: We also see you like Reggae music a lot?

JDM: I also love reggae when I'm on my boat!

IG @jdmartinez28

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52, 56 - 63 + 9DRIP STORI3S PG 60 - 63 NY Mets | PG 54 - 55 Pfizer |

Read the SEP ISSUE #105 of Athleisure Mag and see OMG SEASON | J.D. Martinez in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | Mike Piazza

Read the Sep Issue #57 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S in mag.