Wanted a Nick Chubb Browns retro jersey. $170 on the NFL team shot website. Went to a Chinese knockoff site, I could’ve bought 7 different jerseys for $170. The price difference is just insane. How can they justify pricing a jersey at $170? Do people actually buy it?
Meanwhile the jersey you would have purchased from the NFL team shop is no longer made by Nike. It is made in a Chinese factory by Fanatics and is little better than a polyester shirt with screen pressed numbers. No stitches to be found at all.
Fanatics is the worst thing to ever happen to sports merchandise.
Nike’s shit has been made overseas for decades
Their hats are all garbage too. I’ve bought several for some reason and every single one has ended up in the donation box shortly after. The fit and look are just awful compared to every other brand I’ve ever bought.
Michael Rubin is a worm.
So they’re made in a Chinese factory and just stick a made in Honduras or Guatemala label for funsies?
Fuck fanatics and their cheap, overpriced bullshit
The fabrics used in their Tshirts is so bad, but like astonishingly bad. You can pick the cheapest, simplest cotton Tshirt anywhere, and the quality would be better. I bought a tshirt, supposedly dry fit, and after two washes, the neck is looser than my morals, and equally useless.
I just wait til they have a big sale, which is usually a few months after the season is over
I collect baseball cards and hoo boy lemme tell you, our sub ain’t happy about Fanatics acquiring Topps last year
Our sub? Bruv u ain’t part of the sub mate, for real don’t be acting like u been there. I’ll roll ya like a proper fish n chips if you keep playing mate
They’re coming for basketball cards too. I really don’t get how Fanatics is allowed to run what is essentially a monopoly on the sports merchandise and collectibles market
And Football, Bryce and Stroud signed with Topps, and get full licensing in a couple of years. They’re getting a full monopoly it’s ridiculous.
Although Panini also deserved a kick in the ass for how garbage they’ve been all around lately when it comes to releasing sets on time, getting out redemptions etc.
For sure, Panini’s quality went to shit in recent years. They just shouldn’t have exclusive licensing for sports cards. Removes any competition and motivation to provide a quality product and innovate
The worst part is they’re also doing it for after market signings as well. For example, I make custom cards and certain athletes are “fanatics exclusive” meaning they’ll only sign fanatics-licensed merchandise.
I will never be able to get my custom cards signed by Joe Montana or Jerry Rice, no matter how much I pay.
Luckily idrc about either of those two but guys like Barry Sanders and Lawrence Taylor would be great disappointments to me (luckily AFAIK neither has moved to the dark side yet)
The answer is simple, because it generates absolutely insane amounts of money for Fanatics, the leagues, and the owners.
I used to work for a company that worked with Fanatics. Their profit margins as you can imagine are absolutely ridiculous. That jersey being sold for $100 costs them at most $10 to manufacture and ship over from a Chinese factory.
I know you said “at most” , but $10 is being generous with the scale these factories operate at, and the cost of materials / labour in China. I bet you it probably costs them closer to $4-5 per jersey
Probably the same Chinese factories that make the knockoffs. They have all the specs already.
Whatever happened with fanatics taking over/ ripping off the panini deal?
I think it makes old cards more valuable
Yep. The Patriots ProShop online website used to be run directly by the team, and the sales and merchandise selection was fantastic. Unfortunately they sold the online store to Fanatics a couple of years ago as they also own 99% of every other of the four league’s teams stores.
Thankfully I’m close enough to the stadium so I can actually just go the physical store still operated by the team if I wanted merch, but it still sucks having to go through Fanatics if I want something online.
Even the pro shop sucks now
A friend bought me a 39thirty cap from Fanatics and that thing was so poorly made it was hilarious. String sticking out, the bill seemed off-center and the best was the material they used in the entire back half of the hat was made with this stretchy material (years ago the 39thirty only had stretch in the band of the hat) so it formed a cone shape on the top like this. I made sure they got their money back; fuck Fanatics.
A friend bought me a 39thirty cap from Fanatics and the thing was so poorly made it was hilarious. Loose string sticking out everywhere, the bill lacked stiffness/seemed off-center and the best was the entire rear half of the cap was some stretchy material (years ago the 39thirty only had stretch in the band of the cap) so it formed a cone shape on the top like this. I made sure they got their money back; fuck Fanatics.
What I don’t understand is how people continue to purchase their products (including a lot of y’all on here).
If you want new licensed gear, there’s not too many other options, esp if you’re at a team store
It may not be much better in a big picture view, but man Mitchell and Ness throwbacks are miles ahead of the new garbage.
They were not anymore Mitchell and ness nhl jerseys are a abomination
That’ll change too. Fanatics bought Mitchell and Ness
They are but a lot of people want current players. They’re also often over $300 lol
Sports fans want to support their team(s). Unfortunately, Fanatics has gotten SO big that it’s nearly impossible to support your team without indirectly supporting Fanatics.
Most people don’t know any better
maybe a little bit off topic but you can do a quick search of brands before buying them here:
https://goodonyou.eco/
(fanatics is not listed)
Very off-topic.
Fanatics is fucking awful. I can pay good money for a shirt if I know that the quality is great. Fanatics is not that.
Chinese knockoffs it is
Hey at least Chinese knockoffs are good quality
The fanatics-made jerseys are nowhere near $170.
The quality of jerseys now is just atrocious too. A couple years ago I bought a Jonathan Allen jersey for over $100. After putting it through the washing machine (made sure air dry it to avoid damage) multiple giant spots on the numbers chipped off. Like I don’t need a jersey to be in mint condition, but I’d prefer the numbers to not disappear if I dare to wash the beer stains off of it after a game.