Greg WyshynskiESPN6:15 ET4 minute read
Fanatics will replace Adidas as the NHL supplier of on-ice uniforms and authentic jerseys beginning in the 2024-25 season, the league announced Tuesday.
The deal runs for 10 years. Financial terms were not disclosed. This is the first time the Fanatics branding has been featured directly on an official player uniform for a professional sporting entity.
Fanatics has been an NHL retail partner for nearly two decades. It will remain the official manufacturer of a wide range of NHL apparel, including the replica jerseys it has been producing since 2017. Fanatics will also make the uniforms for all NHL officials on the ice beginning in 2024-25.
“This expansion of our partnership with Fanatics reflects our shared commitment to innovation, performance and service to our players and fans,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Fanatics is a leader in the sports industry and with a proven track record in e-commerce and retail, licensed merchandise and performance gear, our players and fans should look forward to what Fanatics will bring to the best uniforms in all sports.”
ESPN reported last July that Adidas decided not to renew its seven-year deal to make NHL jerseys.
Fanatics Chief Executive Officer Michael Rubin’s businesses have powered the NHL’s e-commerce operations since 2005. Fanatics operates on-site retail stores at a handful of NHL arenas and for events such as the NHL All-Star Game and Winter Classic. It also operates an NHL flagship retail store in Manhattan, which opened in 2021.
Since 2017, Fanatics has been producing the “Breakaway” which innovates the design of the fan replica jersey by using stain resistant fabrics and adding a foldable jersey logo crest for easier storage. Since 2018, Fanatics has also produced the NHL’s Authentic Pro line of training apparel and headgear worn by NHL players, coaches and staff.
“This is a natural progression from our partnership with the NHL,” Fanatics Commerce CEO Doug Mack told ESPN. “I have said to our team that as we deliver great results for partners and innovate in the way they serve their fans, we have the right to do more together.”
While this is the first time Fanatics branding has appeared directly on an official player uniform, it is not the first time Fanatics has made game uniforms.
“The Fanatics brand is fairly familiar to fans, but we’re often thought of more as an e-commerce company,” Mack said. “This isn’t the first time we’ve created a performance product, but this will be the most visible we’ve ever done in making this performance product.”
For example, Nike is the “official outfitter” of Major League Baseball, but Fanatics has made Nike-branded MLB uniforms for all 30 teams since 2017 when it acquired Majestic. In all, Fanatics makes nearly 100,000 MLB jerseys each season. Fanatics also makes authentic NFL jerseys that feature a Nike logo that are sold online and in retail stores.
NHL executive vice president of marketing Brian Jennings acknowledged that fans may only know Fanatics as a company that makes replica jerseys rather than in-game jerseys, which could create challenges in the perception of the league’s new authentic jersey maker.
“It’s fair. I understand there may be some trepidation at first, but I have great faith in the Fanatics team,” said Jennings. “I look back at the history of our dressing room, what they’re doing with other leagues and I think they’ll be able to do that.”
Jennings said part of that trust is in how Fanatics approaches the task. It features senior executives with experience in launching game-worn jerseys at Reebok and Adidas. Fanatics doesn’t plan to reinvent the kit either – at least initially. They will use the same Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec factory that Adidas used to make its kits. The specs for the kits will be exactly the same. While there will be differences in some fabrics and materials, “it will be almost indistinguishable for the kits currently in use,” Jennings said.
The NHL indicated that the first significant changes to its on-ice jerseys could occur in the 2026-27 season, when various fabric options and player safety innovations such as protection from skate injuries could be introduced.
When the NHL learned that Adidas was exiting the hockey jersey business, Jennings said she surveyed the “competitive landscape” to see what else was out there. It quickly became apparent that Fanatics offered something “very appealing” to the league as a kit manufacturer, especially given its existing partnerships as a clothing manufacturer and e-commerce retailer.
“Every step of the way, you’ve just seen this increase in commitment to product, commitment to performance, commitment to design,” Jennings told ESPN. “If you think the changes in retail have been dramatic in the last five years, they will be a lot more dramatic in the next 10 years. And Fanatics, driven by Michael Rubin and his senior team, are definitely visionaries.”