NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS) -- Leave it to sports licensing and collectibles behemoth Fanatics -- led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Rubin -- to stage the most spectacular Comic Con-esque sports event: Fanatics Fest NYC, which kicks off its three-day run Friday at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
It's the first-ever immersive sports festival and the largest collectibles show ever in New York City, according to Fanatics. Plus, the roster of athletes and artists participating in autograph sessions and photos opportunities is a who's who of the sports world: Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Kevin Durant, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Rob Gronkowski, Henrik Lundqvist, Carmelo Anthony, Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, Jay-Z, Travis Scott, and Lil Wayne.
"We've sold tens of thousands of photos and autographs, so the people want to meet ... their heroes," Mike Armstrong, senior vice president at Fanatics Events told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880, of the event, which is expected to draw about 50,000 attendees.
Among the more notable events is a press conference with Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Sunday at 2 p.m. ahead of the pair's highly-anticipated boxing match on Nov. 15. Super Bowl champion, former Pittsburgh Steelers safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark will serve as the host of the press conference. Peyton Manning is also slated to appear at the press conference.
There will also be a 10,000-square-foor "Fanatics Superstore" selling new products from Topps, Lids, and Mitchell & Ness.
Armstrong, who joined Fanatics Events last year from Comic Con organizer ReedPOP, said there's been an incredible response to the activations slated to take place. "People are excited to run the 40-yard dash in the NFL booth. They're excited to do the slapshot accuracy challenge in the NHL booth. They're excited to do the superstar entrance and the WWE booth. I think there's a whole element of collecting and collectibles as well. The Topps booth with some exclusive drops and seeing over 250 of the best card dealers from around the country being here -- there's a lot of things that people are excited about and that's good."
Armstrong added, "We want people to come for the thing that they want, but then we also want them to discover something else. I think that's the most important part of these shows is that you come because you're a card collector, but you find a hat drop that you really want or you come because you're a big NFL fan, but then you get hooked on trading cards. We like to be able to cross cross-contaminate people so that they come as a fan of something, but they leave a fan of something else."
While fans are eager to see and meet their heroes, the bold-face names attending Fanatics Fest NYC are just as eager to attend, Armstrong said.
"I will say that 99 percent of the athletes that we have at the event see the opportunity to engage with their fans in a meaningful way," he said. "So if you look at some of the panels that are taking place, the Mike Tyson-Jake
Paul press conference, the Derek Jeter-David Ortiz panel, the Tom Brady panel, the Michael Rubin and Travis Scott panel, people are excited to be in
an environment where they're not necessarily being asked about that game winning drive or that home run that hit game seven. We're asking them questions as if they're like people who have other interests, who
have charitable endeavors, who have businesses that they want to promote. So I think there was a lot of excitement from the athletes coming to the show to be human and not be viewed as just this superstar athlete."