What Is Fanatics Fest? 'world's No. 1 Fan Festival' Comes To Nyc

New York City will be the host to this weekend's Fanatics Fest, which will bring some of the world's biggest names in sports and entertainment to the Big Apple.

Billed as the world's No. 1 fan festival, the Fanatics Fest will take place from Thursday, July 16 to Sunday, July 19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in midtown Manhattan and will also feature the second annual Fanatics Games, in which 50 fans compete alongside celebrities for a share of a $2 million prize pool.

Most of the athletes appearing at the Fanatics Fest are already in town as the annual ESPY awards show took place at Lincoln Center on July 15. Other talent scheduled to appear include Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, Jay-Z, Shaquille O'Neal and members of the NBA champion New York Knicks.

The Fanatics Games will also be livestreamed on YouTube, featuring matchups such as Tom Brady vs. Novak Djokovic, CC Sabathia vs. David Ortiz, DJ Khaled vs. Karl-Anthony Towns, John Cena vs. Noah Lyles and Rhea Ripley vs. Rob Gronkowski. One athlete of note who will be making an appearance is NBA free agent LeBron James, who will be doing a podcast and a live taping of "The Show." It is not known whether James will announce where he will play for his 24th season during the Fanatics Fest, but inquiring minds will be tuning in case he does.

James's "Mind the Game" podcast featuring Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is set for 1:15 p.m. ET Thursday, July 16, and "The Shop" will commence shooting at noon on July 17. 

The schedule for the Fanatics Fest will feature programming across five different areas of the Javits Center, including panel discussions and podcasts.

For more on the programming schedule, click here.

Fanatics Games Schedule (July 16-19)  

• Thursday: 3:30 p.m. ET  
• Friday: 12 p.m. ET  
• Saturday: 1 p.m. ET   
• Sunday: 10 a.m. ET
• Closing ceremony: 12 p.m. ET  

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: What is Fanatics Fest? 'World's No. 1 fan festival' comes to NYC