SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Fanatics Collectibles Aims to Innovate with Tom Brady’s First Baseball Cards

For many collectors, Tom Brady getting his first baseball cards in the 2023 Bowman Draft Baseball release is old news. However, the scale with which Fanatics Collectibles is pushing the product, especially Brady’s inclusion, is something all new.

Fanatics Collectibles announced Brady would have baseball cards in a Bowman product back in February during the Topps Industry Conference, and since then the company has put together a marketing campaign unseen for years in a sports card set, if ever. Bowman Draft, released Tuesday, has had its marketing completely built around the Brady collaboration and his imaginary baseball career.

Drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1995, Brady went on to choose football over baseball and attended the University of Michigan instead. Though Brady told Dan Patrick in 2022 that he probably would be selling insurance today if he had chosen baseball, Fanatics Collectibles has created an entire “What if?” narrative to support Bowman Draft. 

Titled Geaux Brady, Fanatics Collectibles released a video Tuesday morning that explored a universe where Brady chose the Expos over Michigan and saw the same success that he had in the NFL. It even features multiverse Expos teammates Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Larry Walker.