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Sports Business Awards: Fanatics Wins Sports Breakthrough Of The Year

Fanatics won Sports Breakthrough of the Year, using an array of market-shaking deals to realign a licensed sports apparel business that had been among the most staid, conservative segments of the industry. The company in particular last year struck an innovative three-way partnership with Under Armour and MLB to gain baseball’s licensed apparel and uniform rights, and Fanatics has now positioned itself at once as a buyer, seller, and manufacturer of licensed sports merchandise. “We saw a great opportunity to improve fan experience by making this business vertical and creating a new business model,” said Fanatics Founder & Chair Michael Rubin. “But the great thing is that we’re just getting started. There’s so much more that we can do. It’s really just the end of the first quarter in what we’re trying to do.” Rubin after being photographed backstage with his trophy saw Tom Ricketts after the Cubs Chair presented the award for Best in Property Consulting, Sales & Client Services. Rubin told Ricketts, who would later win Sports Executive of the Year, “I should have thanked you on stage.” Ricketts was not in Rubin’s on-stage acceptance remarks, but the Cubs’ march to the ’16 World Series title fueled the largest hot market in sports licensing history, one in which Fanatics benefited greatly.

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