2 days ago
Fanatics wants to build a loyalty program for sports, rewarding fans with merchandise, tickets and experiences
Fanatics is launching a new loyalty program, reflecting its continued growth and reach in the sports business industry.
The program, called Fanatics ONE, will offer members points for purchases across the company's various businesses, which now include its sports merchandise business, collectibles, and trading cards, as well as casino and sportsbook operations. Members will gain access to things like free shipping and giveaways and will be able to redeem their points on everything from apparel and merchandise to exclusive experiences and game tickets.
Tucker Kain, Fanatics' chief strategy and growth officer, said this new loyalty program highlights the company's expansion beyond merchandise, and "the opportunity to bring [it] together from a consumer and experience perspective."
Kain said that Fanatics has roughly 10 million people already in its FanCash program, which it previously rewarded to customers who bought merchandise through its ecommerce platform and its app.
Fanatics has a vision of building FanCash into "the currency of sport," Kain said, where fans will be able to acquire not just a new jersey or hat, but tickets, athlete meet-and-greets, access to Super Bowl parties, or Fanatics Fest, the company's effort to build a Comic-Con-like event for sports that recently held its second edition.
"These are things that sports fans really value and get excited about, and I think our platform is uniquely positioned to do that," Kain said.
Part of that speaks to the depth of Fanatics' relationships across the sports industry that it has forged since Michael Rubin founded the company, a three-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company, in 2011. The company has partnerships with nearly every major sports league, including many that hold equity stakes in Fanatics like the NFL, MLB and NHL. It has also struck additional relationships with superstar athletes like LeBron James and Shohei Ohtani.
It also speaks to the company's growth as it has expanded beyond merchandise into trading cards, collectibles and sports betting, with Fanatics earning more than $8 billion in revenue in 2024.
Still, the bulk of the company's revenue comes from its core merchandise business, and this new loyalty program will look to expose more sports gear shoppers to what Fanatics has been doing in collectibles and betting.
Kain said Fanatics is "starting to see the number of cross-platform users scale pretty dramatically," adding that "what we see is that customers that engage in all three are a much more valuable opportunity for us."
"I think the power of the platform unlocks here, versus any individual business operating in a silo," he said.
From retail and fast food to hotels and airlines, many industries leverage loyalty programs to boost business and shift consumer actions while also rewarding consistent customers with bonuses and one-of-a-kind rewards.
But unlike some of those other industries, sports have little of those. While season ticket holders may receive certain discounts or invites to exclusive events, there are no league-wide or sport-specific programs. And there's certainly no cross-sport platform as big as Fanatics.
"There has never been a loyalty program that spans sports and fandom," Kain said. "All of us have a different kind of fandom, different passions, different teams and athletes we like, so a program that threads those experiences can separate itself really meaningfully from other great loyalty programs."
Kain said Fanatics is already thinking about ways to further expand the program even as it only launches on Tuesday, whether that's creating new and exclusive rewards to the potential for a Fanatics-branded credit card or partnerships with teams and leagues around the loyalty program.
"We get excited about the potential to deepen those relationships and ultimately enhance the fan experience across all sports and every kind of fandom," Kain said.
