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Fanatics – Everything you need to know

Fanatics appears to be a name that keeps popping up at NBA games and events so who are they and what do they do?

Who are Fanatics?

According to their own website Fanatics are ‘loyal, passionate fans, dedicated to our favorite teams and to the sports we love. That’s why we’re honored to be able to offer fans the world’s largest collection of official sports apparel from all the leagues, teams and players you love. We feature a wide selection of gear from every league, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and NCAA merchandise, which allows us to serve fans of football, baseball,hockey, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, golf, and everything else that gets your heart pumping.’ So basically Fanatics is a one stop shop for all your sporting goods, as an American company they have an unrivalled selection of merchandise for all your favourite US teams, but the International site also has a wide selection of Premier League Football teams and even eSports!

Who founded Fanatics?

Fanatics was founded in 1995 by brothers Alan and Mitch Trager when they open Football Fanatics in Orange Park Mall. Initially a bricks and mortar store focusing on the local Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida’s college teams. By 2000 they had open a second store in the Avenues Mall and had hired their first dedicated eCommerce employee. Via a combination of affiliate marketing, repeat customer business and good strategic vision of partnering with the right content site they were able to grow rapidly. In 2006 they made their first acquisition when they bought Richard Perel’s Marketvilles, Inc. This was a collection of college eCommerce sites that included CollegeFootballStore.com. Around this time they also purchased RuppShirts and Demand Made. 

Who is the Owner of Fanatics?

In 2011 Fanatics was purchased by GSI Commerce, which was Led by Michael Rubin. Later that year GSI Commerce was purchased by eBay this led Rubin to purchase Fanatics outright in 2012. Michael Rubin currently owns 72% of Fanatics.

Who is Michael Rubin?

Michael G. Rubin was born in 1972 in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, he started out in business by using $2,500 that was gifted to him at his Bar Mitzvah to open A Ski Shop in Conshohocken called Mike’s Ski and Sport. He grew his Ski Shop business to 5 stores before selling them on to start KPR sports, which bought And sold over-stocked name brand merchandise. By 1993 when he was 21, KPR reached $1Million in Sales, this grew to $50 Million by 1995. In 1998 Rubin Created Global Sports, which would later turn into GSI Commerce. This was sold to eBay for $2.4Billion. Rubin is also well known as a minority owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and can often be seen court side with his good friend Meek Mill. Rubin is also a minority owner of the New Jersey Devils NHL team.

Is NBAStore and Fanatics the same?

Fanatics operates the NBAStore in America, Europe, Australia and Japan under license granted by the NBA. Fanatics also operates the NBAStore on Fifth avenue in New York. They also run the websites and in-stadium concessions for several NBA teams, this includes:

The Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and the Golden State Warriors. On many of these sites and in the teams stadiums. Branding will tell you that it is ‘A Fanatics Experience’ indicating that the website or store is powered by Fanatics.

Do Fanatics produce NBA Jerseys?

In America Fanatics produce the Fast Break NBA jerseys, these official NBA merchandise and are the entry level replica jersey. A full break down of all

NBA jerseys can be found here: https://basketballnoise.com/what-nba-jersey-should-i-buy-the-ultimate-nba-jersey-buyers-guide/

What is the difference between Fanatics and FansEdge?

FansEdge is also owned by Fanatics. FansEdge was owned and operated by Dream’s Inc. Fanatics purchased Dreams Inc for $183 Million in 2012 bringing FansEdge under the Fanatics umbrella.

How much is Fanatics Worth?

In 2017 Fanatics took on $1Billion pounds in funding from Japanese Tech Giant SoftBank, this now means that the company has be valued as high as $4.5Billion.