A few months after its notable video to celebrate Victor Wembanyama’s rookie of the year award last season, Fanatics once again used “Wemby”, this time to highlight the new collection of NBA “City Edition” jerseys designed by Nike. Like that of the Frenchman on the NBA, the scale of the American company on the sports merchandising market is impressive. Based in Jacksonville (Florida) and initially specializing in e-commerce, it has made a name for itself in its domestic market.
In the NBA, Fanatics is associated with Nike, which extended its contract as the league’s equipment supplier at the end of October until 2037. The deal allows it to market all NBA merchandising products, on the same model as the partnership in place with the NFL. A situation partly enabled by the acquisition, in early 2022, of 75% of Mitchell & Ness, a North American sportswear specialist. In MLB too, the group has followed in the footsteps of Nike, equipment supplier of the Baseball Championship for the 2020-2029 period: Nike designs the outfits, Fanatics produces and distributes them after purchasing Majestic, former equipment supplier of the MLB, in 2017. A turn not without risks as shown by the controversy surrounding the jerseys of the past season, strongly criticized by the players and the public for their disappointing quality.
Deals with PSG, Bayern, Barça, Real…
But like its founder Michael Rubin, famous for his “White Parties”, the company has built a global presence. Jerseys, caps, sweatshirts, t-shirts: in total, it sells more than 100 million pieces of sports equipment each year. The hold on the market is now also felt in Europe with, for example, an NBA Store opening in Paris in July 2022 and agreements with a multitude of European clubs. Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, PSG and Juventus, since last June, have, among others, joined forces with the American group to boost their sales of derivative products.
Since 2021, Fanatics has also entered the collectible card market by pocketing exclusive rights to MLB. Similar deals followed with several leagues including the NBA, the NFL (from 2027) or the Premier League (from June 2025), each time replacing Panini. A dynamic notably enabled by the acquisition for $500 million (€473 million) of Topps, a company specializing in collectible cards, in 2022. Enough to also afford the rights to MLS, F1 and UEFA. As evidence of the group’s new reach, it signed exclusive contracts with LeBron James and baseball star Shohei Ohtani this year.
Also present in sports betting
The appetite comes with eating and Fanatics bought the French live video shopping platform Voggt at the beginning of October, to further develop its activities around the collection of sports objects. Other sectors are also being explored, starting with sports betting since the purchase for $150 million (€142 million) of the American activity of the operator PointsBet in spring 2023. Ever more ambitious, the company supplies the jerseys of the NHL to replace Adidas since this summer and until 2034. A first experience as an equipment manufacturer which could attract others.
