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Fanatics, which runs the San Francisco 49ers online store, will now operate the 13,000-square-foot store at Levi’s Stadium.
Photo by: VICKI THOMPSON / SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL
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The San Francisco 49ers have signed
Fanatics to a long-term deal to run the merchandise at 2 1/2-year-old
Levi’s Stadium.
The agreement runs more than 10 years and was to take effect Sunday for the New England-San Francisco game, team officials said.
Fanatics, which has run the 49ers’ online retail since 2011, replaced Centerplate, the team’s merchandise vendor at Levi’s Stadium since it opened in August 2014. Centerplate remains the stadium’s food provider.
Centerplate has a five-year contract at Levi’s Stadium and negotiated a buyout with the 49ers on the retail end, team President Al Guido said.
The timing of the midseason switch in vendors was driven by when the 49ers could officially transfer employees from Centerplate’s payroll to Fanatics’, Guido said.
“It’s not a simple process transferring such a large business,” he said.
The 49ers made the change to consolidate their stadium and online retail operations.
“It’s more of a strategic thought process with Fanatics across all channels,” Guido said. “They’re already our partner on the e-commerce side and they have long-term deals with the NFL and the Players Association. Their new headquarters are [in San Mateo], and it felt like a really good marriage.”
The two parties have been in talks for the past few months about Fanatics taking over stadium retail. Five years ago, during the development of Levi’s Stadium, Fanatics had not committed to running brick-and-mortar locations, and the 49ers went with Centerplate, Guido said.
Over the past two years, though, Fanatics made a commitment to in-venue retail and now runs merchandise at five NFL stadiums. It has deals with the Jaguars, Saints, Cardinals and, starting next season, the Falcons at new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
In the Bay Area, the flexibility Fanatics displays with its ability to move unsold inventory from the team store to its online operation appealed to the 49ers, Guido said. Centerplate, strictly an in-stadium vendor, does not have that capability, he said.
As part of the agreement, Fanatics assumes operation of the stadium’s 13,000-square-foot team store, which is open year-round, as well as a 49ers retail outlet in a mall in San Francisco.
Gary Gertzog, Fanatics’ president of business affairs, said the firm plans to help the 49ers grow in-seat delivery and pickup of merchandise ordered through mobile devices. The service has been in place since the 2015 season, but it’s a small piece of the overall business, Guido said.
“It’s another way to augment the fan experience,” Gertzog said. “Football games are a scarce commodity, with only 10 home games a season, and people don’t want to wait in line. It’s a great enhancement.”
Fanatics also plans to test pop-up stores in conjunction with the 49ers, especially during the winter holidays, Gertzog said. It’s too late to do it in the coming weeks, but fans can expect temporary retail locations starting next year.
“There’s a lot of things on our product road map,” Gertzog said. “It makes sense. We’re working with a progressive and tech-savvy club. We’re both situated in the Silicon Valley, which brings additional strength from an innovation standpoint. Now, the 49ers have one merchandise provider. It’s clearly the way things are to go in the future, with one company doing it all, both on-site and online.”
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Jack Hill is working on pre-project planning for the Texas Rangers’ new ballpark.
Photo by: COURTESY OF TEXAS RANGERS
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> BACK IN THE SADDLE: Jack Hill is back working for the Texas Rangers, about 25 years after first serving as their owner’s representative to build
Globe Life Park.
Fast forward to 2016 and Hill is doing pre-project planning for the team’s $1 billion retractable-roof stadium, which will replace Globe Life Park.
His initial duties included helping the team form the proposal for architectural services. As the project unfolds, Hill could potentially become the Rangers’ owner’s representative for a second time, but at this point, his future role has not been determined, he said.
Hill most recently served as San Francisco 49ers’ project executive for the development of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. His past jobs include owner’s representative for Dallas-area projects AT&T Stadium and American Airlines Center, plus Miller Park.
Construction on the Rangers’ new HKS-designed ballpark is expected to start next summer.
Don Muret can be reached at dmuret@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @breakground.
