Tom Brady, LeBron and Jeter UNITE at Fanatics Fest
FOX Business’ Madison Alworth reports live from Fanatics Fest in New York, detailing the huge gathering of sports fans and athletes. CEO Lance Fensterman reveals megastars including Serena Williams and David Beckham will be in attendance. The festival expects 200,000 attendees over its four days, demonstrating its significant growth since 2022.
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Fanatics Fest is a viral moment waiting to happen given the plethora of superstars under one roof in Manhattan, and perhaps the first one came Thursday during Opening Day at the Javits Center during the Raising Cane activation.
It was a legendary combination of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and 500 gallons of the famous Raising Cane sauce filled into a dunk tank. Brady, whose accuracy with a football is still unmatched, did not miss his target.
Gronkowski got in on the sauce, as Brady and Raising Cane owner Todd Graves joined the masses in celebrating one of the coolest moments of the Fanatics Fest kickoff.
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Todd Graves, Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York on July 16, 2026. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Fanatics)
Before Brady’s sweepstakes took away his favorite tight end’s seat while they were both in the NFL, PK Press Club Digital caught up with Graves to find out how a dunk tank filled with his trademark sauce came to be.
“I never thought about a Cane’s Sauce dunk tank, but a partnership with Fanatics and Fanatics Fest, which is awesome,” Graves explained. “They’re incredible partners. First of all, Michael Rubin and I are friends, we talk business, and we help each other in different ways. A rising tide lifts all boats. Before we started partnering with Fanatics, I loved what it did, I loved the fanfare, I loved having sports and entertainment figureheads — everyone from Tom Brady to Kevin Hart, right? All of that together, I was like, “Dude, let’s be partners. Let’s make this deal.”
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“With Fanatics Fest, partnering with them wasn’t just about, ‘Here, come on, do whatever you think.’ No, it was, ‘Let’s put our minds together and do what we can.’ So they came up with the idea. Actually [CEO of OBB Media] Michael Ratner was like, “Let’s do a Cane’s Sauce tank dunk.” I said to myself: “Yes! And he said to me, “Let’s make Brady dunk Gronk.” Oh my God, I couldn’t imagine two better people to do this.”
Graves believed the moment was going to be “legendary” and “remain something in Cane history” forever. And when the brand first opened its doors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 28, 1996, Graves had no idea that 30 years later, two of the country’s most recognizable athletes would make it.
“The teams are already very excited. The fans are going to love it. What a better guy like Gronk, and for Brady to hit the target. It’s ideal,” Graves added.
Tom Brady throws football at Raising Cane’s dunk tank event, where Rob Gronkowski fell into 500 gallons of Cane’s sauce. (raising the cane)
Brady and Gronkowski got the crowd going with a little Hail Mary chicken moment, with the quarterback tossing Cane’s chicken fingers into a sauce cup the tight end was holding. But then, the moment of truth.
In classic Gronkowski fashion, he was chirping at Brady from his seat, but FOX Sports NFL colleagues knew what the end result would be. Brady first toyed with Gronkowski, intentionally hitting a Cane logo just above the target, then did it again with another.
Then, on his third pitch, Brady hit it true, and all the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Gronkowski caused an explosion of Cane’s Sauce as he fell. There was a splash zone if you were close enough, and it was a moment that fans, media, and everyone 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 had caused, Graves was there to thank them both for this epic moment he will never forget.
Todd Graves, Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady attend the Cane’s Sauce Dunk Tank Showdown hosted by Graves at Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center in New York on July 16, 2026. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Raising Cane’s)
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“Through growth, I now have 100,000 crew members, and we have 1,000 locations and we’re about to be 30 years old. For me to come in here and see our logos 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 and Gronk want to do it, I’ve built a brand that is special to my team and my customers. So, an absolute “I’m dreaming. I always have to pinch myself and part of my job is doing things like that, which is awesome,” Graves said.
“We love what we do. I love my business, I love my team and my customers. It’s just something that I think we can make them happy, because I know how much I’m going to enjoy it.”
