Major leagues, players associations, and team owners are pouring money into Fanatics as part of the digital sports platform’s $1.5 billion funding round at a $27 billion valuation.
The round, initially announced in March, was led by the NFL, which invested $320 million in fresh capital, a Fanatics representative confirmed to Front Office Sports.
Also participating were:
- NFL Players Association
- Major League Baseball and its owners
- MLB Players Association
- National Hockey League
- Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai’s Blue Pool Capital
- Paris Saint-Germain owner Qatar Investment Authority
Leagues, players associations, and team owners now own around 10% of the company. The round also included BlackRock, Fidelity, and MSD Capital.
Fanatics said it will collect over $5 billion in revenue this year.
New Verticals
Initially growing as a team-branded merchandise platform, Fanatics has rapidly expanded into other areas including trading cards, where it now holds licensing deals with MLB, MLBPA, NBA, NBPA, and the NFLPA.
It gained licensing rights to MLS, Bundesliga, Formula 1, and UEFA when it purchased Topps for $500 million in January.
The company is also making forays into sports betting and iGaming, and owns NFT company Candy Digital and half of apparel retailer Lids.
