Michael Rubin’s E-commerce powerhouse Fanatics raised US$ 350M in Series E, that increased its value from US$ 4.5 billion to US$ 6.2 billion on 13 Aug 2020.
The Series E funding round was led by Fidelity and Thrive Capital. Other participants included Franklin Templeton and Neuberger Berman. Goldman Sachs was the exclusive placement agent for the transaction.
With this funding, the National Football League and Major League Baseball also benefit after their 2017 investment. Both the leagues had collectively invested US$150M in Fanatics in 2017, and this new funding round has resulted in a US$ 100M equity increase in their holdings in Fanatics. Fanatics’ e-commerce operations increased by 30% in 2020 despite no major sports league for nearly 5 months. Investors had also oversubscribed for the company’s Series E funding.
The funds raised will be utilized towards accelerating its E-commerce strategy through rights acquisition and mergers and acquisitions. It is also believed that Fanatics’ next announcement will be an IPO. Fanatics had grossed US$ 2.5B in 2019.
Fanatics designs, manufactures and distributes high-quality fan gear and jerseys across retail channels. It basically serves the real-time expectations of leagues, teams, fans and retailers in today’s mobile-first, on-demand culture. It was founded in 1995 by Alan Trager, Michael Rubin, Mitch Trager.
About Michael Rubin
Michael Rubin is the majority owner and CEO of Kynetic. It is a holding company for Fanatics, Rue La La and ShopRunner. Michael Rubin is a dropout from Villanova University. After dropping out, he started GSI Commerce, which he sold to eBay for $2.4 billion in 2011. He had paid US$ 500M for majority ownership of three assets that eBay didn’t want- Fanatics, Rue La La and ShopRunner. He serves as Fanatics’ executive chairman and owns nearly half of the firm. Forbes had pegged Rubin’s net worth at US$ 3.5B before the new Fanatics valuation.
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