American Express Expands Sports Push With New Fanatics Card Amid Premium Growth

American Express Company is widening its push into cultural and sporting markets by unveiling a new co-branded credit card with Fanatics. The product allows cardholders to select designs featuring more than 500 athletes across the NBA, NFL, UFC, and WWE. United States fans can enter a waitlist now, with formal application invitations scheduled for later this year. The product awards FanCash on purchases, including 5% back across the Fanatics ecosystem, tickets, and select streaming services, along with 2% on other eligible spending. Fanatics also serves as the first sports transfer partner for Membership Rewards points, trading 1,000 points for $10 FanCash.

The sports launch fits into a broader series of lifestyle pacts, following the payments group securing an official payments partner role with the national football league, an expanded worldwide agreement with basketball bodies, and fresh dining and travel alliances. Management is relying on fandom and experiential perks to capture affluent spenders and drive transaction volume through its network.

This customer push comes as the company continues to see strong demand for its premium tier. Third-quarter net card fees increased 17% year over year on an FX-adjusted basis to $3 billion, bolstered by higher average fees and account additions. Fee-paying products made up 76% of new accounts acquired. However, customer acquisition and retention expenses rose sharply. Card Member Services expenses increased 36% to $2 billion, rewards expenses rose 10% to $5.1 billion, and marketing climbed 11% to $1.8 billion. Overall variable customer engagement costs reached $8.9 billion, representing 44.3% of total revenue. American Express expects the expansion rate of these engagement expenses to slow significantly in the fourth quarter.

For the third quarter, American Express posted revenue of $20.06 billion, up 8.9% year over year, and diluted earnings per share of $4.68, exceeding the $4.50 expected by consensus estimates. Looking ahead, the Zacks Consensus Estimate pegs 2026 earnings at $17.94 per share, representing a 16.6% increase over the previous year. Zacks gives the stock a Rank #3 (Hold) with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16.

Recent regulatory disclosures also reveal notable activity among major shareholders and management. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its American Express holding by 99.5% in the third quarter to 6,736 shares valued at $2,048,000. Meanwhile, corporate insiders sold 414,171 shares worth $137,069,544 over the past ninety days. Chief Executive Officer Stephen J. Squeri sold 299,401 shares at an average price of $332.16 on November 4, leaving him with 60,567 directly owned shares, while insider Laureen Seeger disposed of 69,860 shares on November 2 at an average price of $328.17.