NFL owners later today at meetings in Phoenix are scheduled to vote on proposals surrounding the transfer of the NFL business held by VF’s Licensed Sports Group (LSG) to Fanatics. Sources said this means VF is close to selling its licensing business to Fanatics, and the sale should be officially announced "within weeks." VF put LSG up for sale last year. With annual sales of around $500M, VF’s sports licensing unit includes the Majestic Athletic brand, which has been MLB's exclusive jersey supplier since '05. LSG has rights with all four major stick-and-ball leagues, along with NASCAR, and many colleges. Spokespersons for the NFL and Fanatics would not comment. Majestic would easily be Fanatics' largest acquisition to date, giving it significant domestic manufacturing capabilities. VF/Majestic employs around 600 people in its Easton, Pa., plant, which is largely responsible for MLB jersey production. MLB in October struck a deal with Under Armour and Fanatics, making them MLB’s replica and on-field jersey rightsholders beginning in the '20 season. That left VF/Majestic in the unprecedented position of being a three-year lame duck licensee with a major sports property. Fanatics' pending LSG acquisition means that UA-branded MLB authentic (on-field) jerseys and Fanatics replica MLB jerseys will likely be at retail long before '20. Over the past several years, Fanatics, once considered solely a back-end e-commerce provider, has recently amassed a slew of rights across leagues and teams. That includes licensing rights across colleges, MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NHL, NFL and NFLPA, ranging from on-field to replica jerseys. It also includes a venue merchandise business at NASCAR tracks and across various arenas and stadiums. Fanatics for years has been administering e-commerce for nearly every league, along with many teams, the USOC and numerous colleges.
