Fanatics responded to fans Monday night after receiving lots of backlash about the lack of availability and quality of Super Bowl gear.
“NFL fans, we’ve seen your jersey feedback, and we take it very seriously. We’ve let Patriots and Seahawks fans down with product availability – we own that and we are sorry,” the company posted on X. The company cited Seattle and New England missing the playoffs last year as the reason why there is “overwhelming demand” for merch this year compared to prior years.
Fanatics said it is doing its best to bring in more jersey options to meet demand and that alternative jersey options continue to be offered. As of Tuesday morning, fans looking on Fanatics’s website could only buy Super Bowl jerseys of Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Drake Maye that match what the teams will wear on the field.
Despite apologizing for the backlog, Fanatics isn’t backing down from defending the quality of its product.
“We’ve heard questions about the quality of these alternate jerseys and can assure you that, despite some unflattering photos, these jerseys are identical to the standard Nike replica “Game” jersey – one of the highest consumer-rated items we carry built on the core template that has been unchanged since Nike took over NFL jerseys in 2012.”
Fans disagree. Dozens of people posted photos of their merchandise on social media complaining about quality before and after the company’s statement. Inconsistent patch placements on jerseys and the quality of the Super Bowl patches themselves, along with the quality of jerseys matching that of a jersey shirt were a few of the grievances.
Frustrations reached such a high level that fans started using the hashtag #EndFanatics, with users sharing photos of past products they have bought from the company that have failed to meet expectations. The hashtag also sparked debate about pricing, with consumers arguing that the prices charged by Fanatics, $160 for Super Bowl jerseys, for example, do not match the quality of the product.
This is not the first time that Fanatics has publicly apologized to buyers. CEO Michael Rubin issued an apology in 2023 to Eagles fans who received Kelly green merchandise with crooked numbers. And in 2024, the company faced backlash over the change to MLB uniforms, which shrunk the lettering on the back of jerseys and made pants see-through. Rubin defended Fanatics, saying the uniform changes were put in place by Nike and MLB, with the merchandiser just following orders.
Fanatics and the NFL could not immediately be reached for comment.
