Amber Billups is a sports editor for Fanatics. She was at the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation Female Trailblazers event where Maria Taylor and other trailblazing women in sports spoke on a panel. After the event, Amber spoke with rolling out about her journey to becoming a sports editor.
What do you do at Fanatics? I work in Fanatics collectibles, and I basically create the cards. I started in August of 2024, and my first project will be the Rookie Premiere. I get to go to Rookie Premiere and tell the athletes how to pose for the cards. It’s a rookie account that I’ll be doing. Right now, I’m just picking images from their college career, and then we’ll be switching out those jerseys until we get those actual photos from their Rookie Premiere.
What are some challenges you faced on your way to becoming an editor? I faced a lot of challenges. I’m still in school right now, getting my master’s at Texas Christian University (TCU). I got my undergrad at University of North Texas (UNT), and it was a long journey. I’m also a mom. My son is 15 years old, so he watched my journey grow from the ground up. It was tough because I was dealing with work-life balance. The more that I put into my career, the less I put into spending time with my son. It was very hard, so now I’m just making up that time.
Do you feel like Fanatics has unfair advantage in the collectibles game because of their exclusive licensing agreements with the NFL and NBA? I think it gives us a good advantage. Fanatics is growing every year. We’re just here to stay, and it’s amazing coming into work every day. We’re hiring right now, if you guys want to come work in collectibles.
What’s your all-time sports card? I just got a CJ Stroud rookie card. You know, he was Rookie of the Year last year, so that’s definitely my favorite card right now.
