Fanatics has agreed to a long-term partnership with the Sharks to operate all in-venue team merchandise sales at SAP Center beginning this season. Fanatics will update and expand the overall retail footprint within SAP Center, including strategic renovations of the team's retail store and satellite locations throughout the venue (THE DAILY). In San Jose, Jody Meacham noted the Sharks enlisted Fanatics to see if it "can move the needle" on its retail merchandise operation, which a league spokesperson said is "in the middle of the 30 NHL teams." Meacham wrote ticket sales, corporate sponsorships and suite sales are the Sharks' "top three revenue streams and far surpass retail, so this move isn't earth-shaking to the corporation." Sharks COO John Tortora said, "While we ran a very, very good merchandise business, Fanatics, with their scale, are going to allow us to run a better business. They're able to turn merchandise quickly, and because of their volume of production because of their grander scale, we anticipate their prices to be generally lower than others in the market." The Sharks are Fanatics' "third NHL in-arena deal" after the Coyotes and Devils. Tortora said that the team's deal with Fanatics "may allow the Sharks to open physical retail stores beyond SAP Center." The team "opened a temporary store at Valley Fair mall last spring during the Stanley Cup playoffs." Tortora said the store "performed reasonably well." He added, "We don't have any formal plans but we expect the opportunity to open up stores throughout the Bay Area with Fanatics is an opportunity we're going to explore." However, the "more important retail potential probably lies with the Sharks new app that allows online shopping and delivery at games as well as from home" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/6).
