Fanatics valued at $18bn ahead of reported sports betting launch
Sportswear retailer Fanatics Inc. is now valued at $18bn after securing $325m in new capital to fund expanded ventures including sports betting and gaming.
The Wall Street Journal reports Fanatics’ new investors include rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and existing investors from Major League Baseball, SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund and private equity firm Silver Lake.
The newspaper says Fanatics will use the capital to support a growing digital platform that could soon include sports betting and internet gaming.
In June Fanatics hired former FanDuel CEO Matt King to lead its sports betting and iGaming venture.
“We think we have a structural advantage to building any digital sports business, and online sports betting is no different,” Michael Rubin, Fanatics’ founder and executive chairman, told the WSJ.
Fanatics’ database has more than 83 million people. The company’s previous evaluation in March 2021 was $12.8bn. The WSJ reports that Fanatics claims it will make $3.4bn in revenue in 2021.
Fanatics has grand plans for its eventual sportsbook: the company submitted a New York online sports betting application earlier this week.
Though Fanatics is new to the sports betting market, the company already has multi-year licensing partnerships with MLB, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League.
Fanatics has been quiet on what type of role King will play. King was CFO at FanDuel from 2014-2016 and rejoined the company as CEO in 2017.
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