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Tom Brady is returning to Fanatics Fest games to defend his title.
Last year, Brady won the inaugural Fanatics Fest Games, with UFC champion Justin Gaethje finishing second and fan Matt Dennish taking home third place.
Fanatics Games brings together 50 of the biggest names in sports and entertainment to compete alongside 50 fans for a share of the $2 million prize pool during Fanatics Fest NYC at the Javits Center, July 16–19.
Scott Fisher, head of strategy for Fanatics events, explained how Fanatics Games was conceived.
“I remember it was when we were putting together Fanatics Fest 1.0 in 2024,” said “It was after the Olympics, and we thought about, ‘Oh, we should do the Fanatics Fest Olympics. We should have something where people compete in all these things. It’d be great. Let’s do it.’ We had pulled together that first Fanatics Fest in four months, and that was maybe a bridge too far to try to do (the games) the first year, but it was always something that was in the back of our minds.”
“How do you do something that is a competition that gets athletes to go experience all of the different leagues at Fanatics Fest? The experience of Fanatics Fest is it’s all sports in all these leagues. And so how do we kind of create something that sits across all of it? So, that’s how it started.”
On Monday, Fanatics Fest unveiled the celebrity pairings for this year’s Fanatics Games.
Tom Brady v. Novak Djokovic
CC Sabathia v. David Ortiz
DJ Khaled v. Karl-Anthony Towns
John Cena v. Noah Lyles
Rhea Ripley v. Rob Gronkowski
Additional pairings will include Russell Wilson, DJ Khaled, Marcello Hernandez, Jordan Chiles, Diana Taurasi, Kelley O’Hara, Antoine Griezmann, Jozy Altidore, Roman Reigns, Justin Gaethje, Terence Crawford, Puka Nacua, and many more.
These are the official Fanatics Games competitions.
WWE Superstar Entrance – Perform a WWE Superstar entrance complete with music, character, and showmanship.
NFL Clutch Kick Challenge – Five field goals from 20 yards before taking one final Moneyball kick from 33 yards.
NBA Game Winner Challenge – Shoot from 5 spots around the three-point arc, earning 2 points for every made basket. Moneyball half-court shot
MLB Pitching Challenge – Throw five standard pitches and one bonus Moneyball pitch through a half-sized strike zone.
FIFA Ultimate Goal Challenge – Five shots against a live goalkeeper before attempting one final Moneyball shot through a half-sized goal.
NHL Shoot & Score – Take two shots from 15 feet, two from 30 feet, and finish with a high-stakes MoneyPuck shot from 40 feet.
DICK’S Putting Challenge – Five putts at increasing distances on a sloped green, culminating in a bonus Moneyball putt worth 5 points.
UFC Striking Challenge – Two attempts on a professional punching machine.
Fanatics Games will begin on Thursday, July 16 at 3:30 p.m. ET with an opening kickoff featuring Kevin Hart and Tom Brady.
Fanatics Games Schedule (July 16 – 19)
Thursday: 3:30pm ET
Friday: 12:00pm ET
Saturday: 12:00pm ET
Sunday: 10:00am ET
Closing ceremony 12:00pm ET
Link to the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/fanatics/live