You’ll Never Walk Alone: How Fanatical and Creators Combined to Sell Football Manager 26 at Record Numbers

The Challenge

When Football Manager 25 was cancelled after a five-month delay, it left Fanatical's creator partners without a product to promote and damaged trust in the entire Football Manager franchise. Football Manager 2026's anticipated Q3 release came against a backdrop of worry and high expectations, with Fanatical as one of only three stores where customers could pre-order the game.

The Strategy

Fanatical needed to rebuild confidence in the franchise while driving record sales across pre-order, early access and general release stages. The answer was a larger-scale creator campaign than anything the brand had run before, built on trust, authenticity and a new level of technical execution.

Execution and Innovation

The campaign scaled to over 300 content creators and launched Fanatical's first-ever PR giftbox to drive authentic creator coverage. New ways of using campaign links strengthened the connection between creator content and commercial outcomes.

Results

The campaign delivered record sales across pre-order, early access and general release, outperforming previous Football Manager titles at every stage and restoring brand trust in the franchise.

Judges' Verdict

"Smart technical execution and operational maturity that drove performance significantly above expectations and established a clear, credible path to conversion."

"A campaign that turned a significant setback into a record-breaking launch."