Rubin said Fanatics is up more than 100% against last year for the NBA, and up more than 200% for the NHLGETTY IMAGES
Fanatics Chair & CEO Michael Rubin addressed how his company has coped with the sports shutdown, saying, "Year-to-date through yesterday, our e-commerce business is up 30 percent. Without having sports for five months, we're still up 30 percent." Rubin, appearing Friday morning on CNBC's "Squawk Box," added since sports have come back, "business has been spectacular." He said Fanatics is "up more than 100 percent against last year" since the NBA restarted. Rubin: "The NHL is up more than 200 percent. Baseball is up around 50 percent. The NFL year-to-date is up 80 percent since January 1st." However, Rubin said the "other smaller part of our business where we operate venues in about fifty stadiums ... that business was severely impacted by the pandemic, the same as anybody else operating a wholesale business" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 8/14).
RAISING FUNDS: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL's Sebastian Herrera cites sources as saying that Fanatics closed a $350M investment round, which now values the company "at roughly $6.2 billion after raising about $1.5 billion since 2011." Sources said that this Series E round, led by Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Thrive Capital, is "expected to be the company's last private funding before it files" for an IPO. Other investors in the round "include Franklin Templeton Investments and Neuberger Berman Group LLC." Meanwhile, sources said that while Fanatics saw its e-commerce business increase by 30% year-over-year, the company "expects a $20 million dollar hit to its bottom line caused by store closures and an absence of fans at sports venues." Sources said that Fanatics "made about $2.5 billion in revenue last year, compared with about $2 billion the year before." Herrera notes the company "expects revenue to increase by a low double-digit percentage this year, although the pandemic has made forecasting more uncertain" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/14).
