Fanatics and TikTok Are Facing Lawsuits Over Card Breaks

Live card breaks on Fanatics Live and Whatnot are “unlicensed box-break lotteries,” alleges a whistleblower complaint filed under the California False Claims Act. The complaint was filed in July 2025, later unsealed, and names 18 plaintiffs across at least 11 states.

It is one front in the biggest legal fight the hobby has seen. Independent breakers have also filed antitrust suits against TikTok and Fanatics in federal court. None of these claims has been tested in court. Here is what is actually alleged, and what it means if you buy packs or breaks.

The whistleblower suit

The California complaint targets Whatnot and Fanatics Live, according to ESPN via Gambling Insider. It alleges the companies “knowingly failed to pay the required taxes and to obtain mandatory gambling and business licenses,” and asks the court to order Fanatics to stop supplying product to unlicensed breaking operations in California.

The 18 named plaintiffs spent between a couple of hundred dollars and more than $4 million on breaks on Whatnot, Fanatics Live, or both, ESPN reported. A Fanatics spokesperson declined to comment to ESPN.

California’s Department of Justice declined to intervene, which left the plaintiffs until August to decide whether to pursue the case on their own. Gambling Insider could not locate the filing or confirm whether they did. Neither ESPN nor the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson names the case or the court where it was filed.

These are allegations, not findings. But they go straight at the core question hanging over the hobby: are card breaks gambling? No U.S. state regulator or attorney general has publicly ruled on that. Fred Castano of California’s Gambling Control Commission told Gambling Insider that any determination “would have to come from the Attorney General’s Office,” adding that the commission itself has no investigative or enforcement authority over the matter.

Whatnot’s arbitration wave

Whatnot faces a parallel challenge. Attorney Paul Lesko filed arbitration demands on behalf of Whatnot customers alleging the platform operates an unregulated online casino in breach of California’s lottery laws, The Athletic reported in March. By June the demands covered nearly 70 customers, ESPN reported. Whatnot has rejected that characterization, and no arbitrator had issued a final ruling as of July.

The antitrust suits

Separately, four breaker businesses have sued TikTok and Fanatics in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, all represented by attorney Jeremy Shafer, Gambling Insider reports. The suits allege TikTok banned or suppressed breakers who would not deal exclusively in Fanatics products, bringing antitrust and unfair competition claims.

The filings describe big numbers falling fast. MVP Breaks says it took about $475,000 a month on TikTok Shop before repeated strikes and a permanent ban cut revenue to $283,000. Quad City Breaks reported making up to $200,000 a month, and Dorm Dudes recorded $3.2 million in sales in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to SCCG Management.

An earlier case from GFC & Supply ended in August when the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed it. Fanatics disputes the exclusivity claims. Its lawyer wrote in a March court filing that nothing in its memorabilia seller agreement requires breakers to sell Fanatics products exclusively on TikTok. None of the allegations has been tested in court.

TikTok is rewriting the rules anyway

While the courts sort it out, TikTok keeps tightening its own rules. Random team breaks must now run through TikTok’s own randomization tool, and only eligible sellers can host them, Gambling Insider reported. The direction is clear: the biggest distribution channel for live breaks is putting itself between the breaker and the buyer.

What this means for pack ripping

A few distinctions matter here.

First, these suits are about live breaks, not instant digital pack sites. Nobody has sued Courtyard, Packdraw or the other platforms in our directory. The legal theories (antitrust, unlicensed lotteries) target the livestream break format and the platforms hosting it.

Second, Fanatics Live is not Fanatics Instant Rips. The False Claims Act complaint names Fanatics Live, the company’s live-breaking arm. Instant Rips, the digital pack product we list at Fanatics Instant Rips, is a different product. Same parent company, different exposure.

Third, the trend still touches everyone. If a state attorney general ever rules that randomized card products are lotteries, the blast radius would not stop at TikTok. And platform consolidation, whether through lawsuits or policy rewrites, tends to raise costs for the small operators who give buyers the most choice.

What we are watching

1. Whether any court lets the antitrust claims proceed past the motion-to-dismiss stage.
2. Whether a state attorney general issues an opinion on card breaks, the way California did for daily fantasy.
3. What TikTok’s Surprise Sets rules look like after the next rewrite.
4. Whether the False Claims Act plaintiffs kept pursuing the case after California declined to intervene.

We will update this post as the cases develop.

---

PackRipper tracks every pack-opening site we can verify. Browse the full directory, compare sites head to head, read how we score, or learn how to verify provably fair.

18+ only. Pack ripping is paid entertainment with negative expected value. Never spend money you need, and never chase a pull.