Fanatics Hits $31 Billion Valuation After $700 Million Funding Round
Fanatics Inc. just scored another major investment that brings its current valuation to $31 billion, according to people close to the deal.
The sports merchandising company raised about $700 million in a recent funding round led by new investor Clearlake Capital. LionTree as well as existing investors Silver Lake, Fidelity and Softbank also participated in the round.
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Fanatics representatives and Clearlake Capital declined to comment.
Fanatics was most recently valued at $27 billion after a $1.5 billion funding round that closed in Q1, which was led by Fidelity, BlackRock and Michael Dell’s MSD Partners.
The news closes out a busy year for the e-commerce site, which sells licensed sportswear, sports equipment and other merchandise. Fanatics in February, along with other investors, acquired lifestyle brand and jersey maker Mitchell & Ness from Juggernaut Capital Partners. Fanatics also acquired trading cards business Topps in January for $500 million.
Fanatics has also expanded its partnerships with brands and retailers. In July, Fanatics and Nike entered a new long-term deal making Fanatics Brands, the company’s in-house apparel and manufacturing division, the fan apparel and headwear licensee for Nike for a select group of colleges and universities. The partnership will start in summer 2024. Fanatics also rolled out a long-term connected inventory partnership with Foot Locker Inc. in August meant to bring officially-licensed fan gear and merchandise from top leagues and sports properties to Foot Locker consumers. These deal have built on Fanatics’ existing roster of retail partners such as Nordstrom and Kohl’s.
Revenue for Fanatics, including its Lids business, will be around $8 billion in 2023, according to company projections. The new funds will be used to pursue new acquisitions to grow the business.
Fanatics’ platform currently includes Fanatics Commerce, which oversees its licensed merchandise business, Fanatics Collectibles, or the trading cards and collectibles business, and the soon-to-launch Fanatics Betting and Gaming division.
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