Tom Brady, LeBron, Jeter UNITE at Fanatics Fest
FOX Business’ Madison Alworth reports live from Fanatics Fest in New York City, detailing the huge gathering of sports fans and athletes. CEO Lance Fensterman reveals that megastars like Serena Williams and David Beckham are participating. The festival expects 200,000 attendees over its four-day run, showing its significant growth since 2022.
NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Fanatics Fest is a viral moment waiting to happen given the abundance of superstars under one Manhattan roof, and perhaps the first came on Thursday’s opening day at the Javits Center in Raising Cane’s activation.
It was a legendary combination of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and 500 gallons of Raising Cane’s famous sauce stuffed into a dunk tank. Brady, whose accuracy with a football remains unmatched, didn’t miss his mark.
Gronkowski splashed in the sauce as Brady and Raising Canes owner Todd Graves joined the masses to celebrate one of the coolest moments to kick off Fanatics Fest.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Todd Graves, Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City on July 16, 2026. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Fanatics)
Before Brady’s throw pulled the seat out from under his favorite tight end when they were both in the NFL, Pakinomist Digital caught up with Graves to find out how a dunk tank filled with his brand’s famous sauce came to be.
“I never thought about a Cane’s Sauce dunk tank, but to partner with Fanatics and Fanatics Fest, which is great,” Graves explained. “They’re great partners. One, Michael Rubin and I have been friends and talked about business, help each other in a lot of different ways. A rising tide lifts all boats. Before we started working with Fanatics, I loved what he was doing, I loved the fanfare, I loved having sports and entertainment figures—everyone from Tom Brady to Kevin Hart put this together, I put all this together, right? deal.’
TOM BRADY DRAWS INSPIRATION AFTER MEETING MAKE-A-WISH TEAN HEART TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT AT FANATIK’S PARTY
“With Fanatics Fest, partnering with them wasn’t just like, ‘Here, come, do whatever you put your mind to.'” No, it was, ‘Let’s get our minds together and do what we can.’ So they came up with the idea. Indeed [CEO of OBB Media] Michael Ratner was like, “Let’s make a Cane’s Sauce dunk tank.” I thought, ‘Yes!’ And he said, ‘Let’s have Brady dunking Gronk.’ Oh my God, I couldn’t think of two better people to do that.”
Graves believed the moment would be “legendary” and “will be something in Cane history” forever. And when the brand opened its first doors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on August 28, 1996, Graves had no idea that two of the most recognizable athletes in the country would make this happen 30 years later.
“The crews are already so excited about it. The fans are going to love it. What a better guy like Gronk, and to have Brady hit the target. It’s ideal,” Graves added.
Tom Brady throws the football during the Raising Canes dunk tank event where Rob Gronkowski fell into 500 gallons of Cane’s Sauce. (Repeal of Cane’s)
Brady and Gronkowski got the crowd going with a little chicken Hail Mary moment, where the quarterback tossed some Cane’s chicken fingers into a cup of sauce the tight end was holding. But then the moment of truth.
In classic Gronkowski fashion, he chirped Brady out of his seat, but the FOX Sports NFL colleagues knew what the end result would be. Brady toyed with Gronkowski at first, intentionally hitting one Canes logo right over the target, then did it again with another.
Then, on his third throw, Brady hit true and the entire 6-foot-6, 265-pound Gronkowski caused a Cane’s Sauce explosion as he fell in. There was a splash zone if you were close enough, and it was a moment fans, media and everyone else who witnessed it couldn’t stop talking about.
As Gronkowski wiped the sauce from his eyes and Brady calmed down from all the laughter he caused, Graves was right there to thank them both for the epic moment he’ll never forget.
Todd Graves, Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady participate in the Cane’s Sauce Dunk Tank Showdown hosted by Graves at Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center in New York City on July 16, 2026. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Raising Cane’s)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
“Through growth, I have 100,000 crew members now, and we have 1,000 locations, and we’re about to turn 30. For me to walk in here and see our logos up here and see people wanting to come and be a part of Cane’s, it’s a dream come true. To do a dunk tank, and Tom Brady’s and Gronk’s want to do that, and I want to make a brand with my customers. absolute dream I always have to push myself and part of my job is to do things like this, which is great,” Graves said.
“We love what we do. I love my company, I love my crew and customers. This is just something I think we can do something fun for them because I know how much I’m going to enjoy it.”
