Acquisition of Voggt – with More Than a Half-Million Members – Underscores Globalization of Fanatics Live’s Business; Will Launch in UK in 2025
Today, U.S.-based Fanatics Live, the live commerce division within global digital sports platform Fanatics, announced the acquisition of the assets of Voggt, a leading European live-commerce platform headquartered in France specializing in live shopping for collectibles.
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Today, Fanatics Live announced it has acquired French-based live-auction platform Voggt’s assets. (Graphic: Business Wire)
With more than a half-million members, Voggt – founded in 2021 – is the market leader in Europe for the live selling of sports collectibles and trading card games (TCG), with a dedicated creator community selling to their audience in real time.
Fanatics Live launched in 2023 with a focus on live selling of sports collectibles, known in the collectibles space as “breaking,” and has quickly established a highly engaged U.S. audience. With this acquisition the platform begins its much-anticipated expansion internationally, specifically in France and Germany, growing its community of passionate collectors. According to CEO Nick Bell, Fanatics Live will launch in the United Kingdom in 2025. The broader Fanatics company – which recently announced a multi-year trading-card partnership with the Premier League – partners with more than 900 sport clubs and organizations globally, including: UEFA, the French Football Association, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Chelsea, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, International Olympic Committee and Formula One.
“We are thrilled to be welcoming Voggt to Fanatics Live – and are excited to come together to focus on further enhancing the collector experience,” said Bell. “The team at Voggt has built a strong platform and community, and we look forward to having their team members join us as we continue to grow and diversify the sports trading card hobby globally.”
“I’m so excited to take the next step in Voggt’s journey by joining Fanatics, one of the fastest-growing and most-exciting companies in sports,” said Quentin Lopes, co-founder and CEO of Voggt. “Together we will bring the best of Fanatics to our passionate community in Europe, building a best-in-class platform that will transform the collectibles space.”
The acquisition of the assets of Voggt is immediate, and all current Voggt employees will continue to be based in their current locations. Currently, the platform will remain branded Voggt.
What is Online Breaking?
Breaking is an increasingly popular way for fans to collect sports trading cards and trading-card games, with hundreds of thousands of collectors joining “breaks” each week on platforms like Fanatics Live. A break involves a live seller – known as “breakers” – opening multiple packs, boxes or cases of sports trading cards or trading-card games for a live audience online. Collectors buy a “slot” – a defined portion of the opened product – and watch live as packs are opened and cards are revealed. In some cases, the customers will buy a slot representing a specific team, which entitles them to any card belonging to a player from that team; in other cases, the customer is chooses a randomized team, athlete, or character.
About Fanatics Collect
Fanatics Collect – the direct to consumer division of Fanatics Collectibles that includes live commerce and entertainment platform, Fanatics Live – is a dynamic marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of trading cards and memorabilia, allowing collectors to browse and instantly purchase from an extensive range of hundreds of thousands of sought-after collectibles. Fanatics Collect allows collectors to store their collectibles in the most secure and technologically advanced vaulting facility in the industry and offers a range of services to help collectors manage and track the value of their collections – whether stored physically in the vault or uploaded digitally. The platform also partners with the industry’s best authentication and grading services, including PSA, CGC, SGC, and Beckett. Fanatics Collect is available at fanaticscollect.com and on the Apple and Google App Stores.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241003911995/en/
Contacts
Zack Smith, ZSmith@collectfanatics.com