30-31 LSB Fanatics (SL).qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 25/09/2023 12:44 Page 1
THE BIG INTERVIEW: FANATICS
Fanatics – an undisputable leader in global sport merchandise – thrives on the unpredictability of sports fans. In fact, its vertical business model is fine-tuned exactly to work with the capricious nature of their demands. LSB explores what it takes to be a sports licensing champ.
Inset and below: Fanatics works with some of the biggest names in world sport including NBA, NFL and The FA.
Inset: New
For the fans
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t’s likely a neurosis we’ll be asked to unpack in later life, but there’s something delectable about the unpredictability of sports licensing. Not many would have foreseen, for example, the explosion in popularity of Formula One merchandise in the US market, or the avalanche of shirt sales in South Korea when both Paris SaintGermain and Bayern Munich signed two of its star players in the same season. Yet somehow Fanatics, a business which has – over the last ten years – become an undisputed global leader in licensed sports merchandise across ecommerce, in-person and event retail, found itself at the centre of both. Sceptics would put it down to luck. Fantasists might put it down to a fortune-telling octopus. Matthew Primack, svp of Inset: Fanatics has teamed with Major League Baseball on a new ‘memorabilia patch’ created for trading cards from MLB rookies.
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LICENSING SPORTS BOOK 2023
international business affairs at Fanatics, however, simply puts it down to what the global business does best – listen to fans. “We are in the most unpredictable, exciting industry in the world,” he tells us. “Working in step with our partners across the globe, we are dialled-in to changing fan tastes and can shift accordingly to meet this demand. “We constantly monitor where fans are going and how tastes evolve over time, and position both ourselves and our partners to meet this demand, ensuring we can reach sports fans wherever they are.” Since partnering with Formula One in 2018, for instance, Fanatics has seen a boom of more than 1,000% in global F1 merchandise sales. Meanwhile, during the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) earlier this year, the team launched a commemorative ‘Pepper Mill’ t-shirt in homage to Team Japan’s now viral celebration. That line has gone on to become the fastest-selling single product in the history of Fanatics Japan. “Sport inherently brings with it an element of surprise, as new stars can be born in a moment and team fortunes – and, with this, often their off-pitch success – can