The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is teaming up with sports merchandise company Fanatics on its first worldwide eCommerce pact, which gives Fanatics a share of sales of Olympic merchandise through the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
As part of the deal, Fanatics will make items related to past and future Olympics, and is now working on merchandise for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The IOC has an eCommerce deal with Alibaba for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, so those products will not be produced by Fanatics.
Fanatics gets the manufacturing rights to make and sell Olympic rings as part of the agreement. The sides didn’t reveal the financial terms of the partnership, and Fanatics didn’t say how much profit it could realize through the deal.
“This is an exciting launch for us, as fans from an increasing number of territories will be able to purchase official Olympic merchandising and connect with the magic of the Olympic Games ahead of each edition,” Timo Lumme, IOC television and marketing executive, said in a statement.
Fanatics is valued at $18 billion after Chairman Michael Rubin secured investments from large companies, including Japan-based SoftBank, in August. The company also launched a non-fungible token (NFT) company valued at $1.5 billion earlier this year. Its trading card company is worth $10 billion.
Fanatics owns almost all of Major League Baseball’s eCommerce rights, and also has the eCommerce rights for the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys. The company expects to top $3 billion in sales this year and has about 80 million users to help it grow future digital offerings, including sports betting.
Related news: Fanatics Sports Merch Company Triples Valuation Year Over Year
The retailer of licensed sportswear, sports equipment and memorabilia netted $325 million in the August funding round, including new investments from musician and business mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and his entertainment company, Roc Nation LLC.
MLB and private equity firm Silver Lake are among the current investors who participated in the latest funding round.
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