Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Your New On-Ice Authentic Outfitter Is Fanatics

03/21/2023 at 6:56am EDT

NEW YORK, NY (March 21, 2023) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and its longstanding partner Fanatics, today announced a new 10-year agreement which, beginning with the 2024-25 season, will see Fanatics become the League’s authentic outfitter of on-ice uniforms and supplier of authentic jerseys at retail. The deal marks the next stage of the NHL’s partnership with Fanatics, which over the past two decades has evolved to include NHL e-commerce and retail operations, fan apparel and headwear, replica jerseys, licensed memorabilia, performance and training products, on-ice Stanley Cup® Champions apparel and headwear, and now official on-ice uniforms and authentic jerseys sold at retail.

The new Fanatics on-ice NHL uniforms will build upon the growing collection of performance and technical products that Fanatics currently makes for professional athletes. Since 2018, Fanatics has designed and manufactured the NHL’s Authentic Pro product line - the official performance and training apparel and headwear products worn by NHL Players, coaches and equipment and training staff. Since 2017, Fanatics has also manufactured and supplied official, on-field professional baseball uniforms for all 30 teams, and will now utilize its operational, design, and manufacturing expertise towards the uniforms for the world’s best hockey Players.

“This expansion of our partnership with Fanatics is a reflection of our shared commitment to innovation, performance, and serving our Players and fans,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “Fanatics is a sports industry market leader and with its proven track-record in e-commerce and retail operations, licensed fan merchandise and performance gear -- including the popular NHL replica jerseys and Authentic Pro performance and training products -- our Players and fans should look forward to what Fanatics will bring to the best uniforms in all of sports.”

“This is a seminal moment in the history of Fanatics, and a testament to the hands-on, collaborative relationship with the NHL that we’ve built over the years,” said Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin. “In addition to our tireless commitment to super serving sports fans around the world, Fanatics has equipped athletes, coaches and team staffs with performance products across many sports for years. Everything we do as a company pushes the boundaries to create more highly engaged experiences and revolutionary products for fans, athletes, and partners, and I can’t wait to see our brand on official on-ice uniforms for the first time.”

The NHL and Fanatics will apply the same innovation-focused mindset to the new on-ice uniforms that has driven significant product development across a variety of categories throughout the duration of their longstanding partnership. In 2017, Fanatics began producing official NHL replica jerseys, applying analytics and insights from research across thousands of fans to inform the design process for these products. This consumer feedback led to features such as a more tailored female jersey and foldable crests for easier storage. Fanatics will also apply its innovative vertical commerce model to the new authentic NHL jerseys, which allows fans to purchase products in real-time and in response to hot, trending teams and Players, or during free agency or trade moments.

Fanatics will continue to work closely with the NHL to prepare for the debut of its on-ice uniforms during the 2024-25 season. Fanatics has assembled an experienced team of hockey industry leaders with decades of direct experience working with the NHL and its teams for on-ice and performance products.


Paul

from Sean Gentile of The Athletic,

Its now a company with a $31 billion valuation, an $8 billion revenue projection for 2023 and, certainly, aspirations that extend beyond NHL on-ice apparel deals. Theyre launching a sports betting site soon, youll be shocked to hear. The phrase Amazon of sports has been tossed around the idea of going from one core product, like books, into market-swallowing omnipresence and that comparison is instructive for a few reasons. Everyone loves Amazon, right? Right?

All of that, Tuesdays announcement included, branches from a business model of making clothes that a) tend to be the only option a buyer has and b) stink. The reasons for this are boring and predictable. What started in 1995 as a brick-and-mortar store in Jacksonville, Fla., grew into a behemoth with licensing deals for every major sport and more than 900 entities overall.

The appeal of the business model to leagues, at least is clear. Fanatics makes stuff fast. They make stuff efficiently. Theyre great at making it easy for people to buy their stuff, as you can attest if youve googled Maryland basketball shirt or browsed the official online shops for, say, any of the big four North American sports leagues.

They just dont always make good stuff. If you find yourself saying some version of caveat emptor, or comparing the choice to buy from Fanatics with the choice to buy from other fast-fashion spots like Uniqlo or H&M or whatever, remember one important thing: Its a hell of a lot simpler, and no less convenient, to buy a pair of jeans from someplace else. A Nathan MacKinnon jersey? Less so. Much less so. And the quality of the latter, in way, way too many cases, is lacking.

more ($)

MZ2215

If you were on the fence about buying a new jersey I would recommend pulling the trigger now before the Adidas stock runs out. By the sounds of it thier top level NHL worn jerseys will only 'slightly' change with materials and will still be made in the same factory, but if you're not in the $300+ jersey buying demographic you can expect the quality of apparel available to diminish significantly. Examples of their craftsmanship and customer support can be found on twitter at @FanaticsSucks.

Paul

from Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.

The NHL announced on Tuesday that Fanatics, its longtime e-commerce and fan apparel partner, will become its new outfitter of on-ice uniforms and authentic jerseys beginning in 2024-25.

As fans, we're accustomed to seeing the Nike swoosh or the Adidas stripes on sports uniforms. But this NHL deal will mark the first time Fanatics branding will be directly on an official player uniform for a professional sports property.

Why did the NHL choose Fanatics? What are the company's plans for player jerseys? What does this mean for some of the innovative designs we've seen under Adidas, like the Reverse Retro collection?

We spoke with Doug Mack, CEO of Fanatics commerce, and Brian Jennings, NHL executive vice president of marketing, to find the answers to these questions and many more about this landmark 10-year deal.

continued, good read...


OTC

...an $8 billion revenue projection for 2023 and, certainly, aspirations that extend beyond NHL on-ice apparel deals. Theyre launching a sports betting site soon, youll be shocked to hear.

Sadly, I'm not shocked at all. Not even a little bit.

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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