Building on Fanatics’ recent extension of its MLS deal that gives it the rights to produce all fan apparel and operate the leaguewide e-commerce platform, the company is deepening its ties with the clubs locally.

Fanatics now has local retail partnerships with nine of MLS’s 23 teams, including four deals that are new for this season (see list below). As part of its overarching MLS deal, Fanatics also operates each club’s e-commerce operations.

“Historically, as we’ve operated e-commerce, we haven’t always had that one-to-one connection to the teams,” said Cole Gahagan, Fanatics chief commercial officer. “Now with the expansive rights that we do have, we’re marrying that with individual partnerships, allowing us to collaborate more with the clubs and bring more creative products to those markets that are unique to the fan bases, as well as improve the retail experience.”

Orlando City’s store is open both during matches and on non-game days.orlando city sc

The push into local deals is running side-by-side with Fanatics’ efforts to broaden the range of MLS merchandise and make it more available, a key component of that renewal in November. As part of that deal, which begins in full in 2019, Fanatics will have exclusive rights to produce all fan gear apparel, headwear and hard goods for all league retail and wholesale channels, as well as sublicense rights to other brands to produce MLS merchandise. Adidas, which signed a six-year, $700 million renewal with MLS in July, holds all the rights for on-field products for players and technical staff.

“We think there is a massive opportunity to grow that aspect of the business, and we can now begin to offer a much wider array of merchandise,” said Gahagan. He said that while this season will see a slightly wider array of products available for each team online, and leverage Fanatics’ ability to produce hot-market items based around player trades, milestones or a club’s rally cry, 2019 will bring an even wider range of products.

For Orlando City SC, its new in-venue partnership with Fanatics — which has helped establish the club’s first physical team store at its stadium that is open both during matches and on non-game days — is expected to be a boon for the club.

“While we have a big spike in merchandise sales on game days, we think we have barely scratched the surface on maximizing that side of the business,” said Chris Gallagher, chief revenue officer for Orlando City. “To streamline our experience, make the process easier for fans as everything is under one umbrella now and lean on Fanatics, that’s only going to improve things for our fans.”

It also will help bolster the crossover in-venue sales for Orlando City and its NWSL sister club Orlando Pride, which are both covered by the Fanatics deal. Previously, the clubs had two separate retail partners — Adidas running MLS, and a local company called United World Soccer running NWSL, which resulted in either club’s products not being available at the other’s games.

Gallagher said the direct relationship with Fanatics has increased the assortment of products available at the games, such as authentic goalkeeper jerseys for one of its most popular players, Joe Bendik — an item that was not often available.

“We’ve always gotten big merchandise spikes around the games, and that’s the bulk of our sales,” Gallagher said. “We think this deeper partnership is going to help us further build the online piece of the business, as well as capture some of that tourist traffic that comes through Orlando on non-game days.”

Gahagan said Fanatics is in discussions with other MLS teams and hopes to strike more deals in the coming years.

“When you combine the growth of fans and excitement around MLS with the opportunity to improve the merchandise experience and broaden the range of product availability, we’re hugely bullish of the future of sports retail for MLS,” Gahagan said.