This is Jesse Pujji, and today we are breaking down Fanatics. Fanatics powers the entire digital commerce experience for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and hundreds of other sports leagues around the world.

We cover Fanatics’ unique commerce model, how the company is aggressively entering the NFT market, and other prospective areas for expansion.

Our guest is Deven Parekh, from Insight Partners, who has been an investor in Fanatics since 2011.

Show Notes
[00:00:00] – Introduction
[00:02:40] – [First question] – What is Fanatics and the scale of the business today
[00:04:26] – What the core business of Fanatics does
[00:05:41] – The history of Fanatics and what led to its success
[00:10:59] – Michael Rubin’s story and the role that GSI played in Fanatics’ growth
[00:13:58] – How the licensing business works and how Fanatics’ relationship with the leagues differs from their competitors
[00:15:34] – The landscape of this industry before Fanatics
[00:16:36] – Why the change from the best commerce experience to a broad digital sports platform
[00:19:02] – Differences of Fanatics’ P&L compared to others in the industry
[00:21:05] – How the real-time advantage helps drive growth in the business
[00:23:12] – Whether or not the leagues participate in gross margins and how much of a focus they place on cost optimization
[00:25:25] – Distinctive things about Fanatics from an investor’s perspective
[00:26:22] – Why hasn’t Amazon stepped into this space yet
[00:27:30] – Which leagues have opted out of working with Fanatics and interesting team and player dynamics
[00:28:59] – Reasons behind getting involved with NFTs, trading cards, betting, and how it might evolve in the future
[00:32:22] – Ways they’re taking the core business and augmenting other branches
[00:34:36] – What will have gone right over the next five years for Fanatics to continue growing at the pace they are today
[00:37:59] – What will have gone wrong over the next five years that will hurt Fanatics’ growth
[00:39:59] – Lessons for builders and investors when studying Fanatics’ story