BY FANATICS
BY MARK HALPERN
At the end of last week, we saw our first real story about one of the top rookies in the NFL draft and he is getting noticed for the wrong reasons. Marvin Harrison Jr the son of ex wide receiver Marvin Harrison (Formerly of the Indianapolis Colts) is being sued over his likeness rights for his jump into the NFL. Fanatics as it has been doing to try and steal as many of the top players to sign to their own label and take a firm grasp of the Sport Card market by locking up every top star and basically offering them more to not sign with other card labels. They had been very successful with C.J. Stroud, Bryce young and Will Levis who didn’t have any LICENSED autograph rookie cards because of their deal with fanatics. Fanatics was ready to roll forward with their brand until they were hit with an injunction barring them from producing LICENSED cards until the former contract is up in 2026.
Fanatics has gotten every player they have targeted so far and had a “DEAL” in place for Harrison Jr, and now he is reneging on the deal saying all he saw was an offer sheet. Harrison Sr is his son’s manager and has been adamant he has not signed any deal and will hold up any production or likeness rights for as long as they need. Harrison Jr is expecting to be one of the top rookies in the draft this year and a star for many more years to come, if he lives up to his expectations this season. Harrison Jr, is launching his own brand and has said he never signed any deal for Fanatics and currently no deal with the NFLPA for his cards to be produced.
When I look at this case, I see both stories possibly being true. The way Fanatics has attacked the market you had to expect they were going to protect themselves by locking up the top 4 picks in this year’s draft for their launch in 2026. It is possible that Harrison did sign an offer sheet before the draft and if a court decides that it is legal and binding, he will live up to the deal as it could cost him millions if he decides to go another way. Fanatics might only have an offer sheet and not possibly have a full LIKENESS rights contract and if that is the case then Harrisons own brand line will be able to be produced by whichever way he sees fit. Personally, in my humble opinion there is so much talk but not enough evidence to really support either side and I will keep updating as more is brought to the surface.
The Sports Insanity Network 