Fanatics Inc., No. 29 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Top 1000, is teaming up Ticketmaster to sell tickets and merchandise on each others’ sites.
The newfound relationship will aim to drive shoppers buying apparel to purchase sports tickets through embedded links at Fanatics.com, as well as the hundreds of league and team sites that Fanatics operates. Every consumer who makes a purchase through those links will receive $3 in Fanatics FanCash, the retailer’s rewards program.
The companies also will share some customer data, allowing Ticketmaster, which is part of Live Nation Entertainment Inc., to target ads at Fanatics customers and Fanatics to target Ticketmaster customers. For example, Ticketmaster will now be able to target Fanatics shoppers with personalized promotions as it looks for prospective customers. And Fanatics customers will be presented with the merchandise as an upsell when they buy tickets through Ticketmaster.
Linking up with the world’s largest ticket seller will enable Fanatics to drive incremental sales from consumers likely to be interested in its merchandise. For example, a Los Angeles-based shopper who is buying a Chicago Cubs T-shirt might be interested in tickets when the Cubs are in town.
The arrangement should help both companies as they seek to expand their relationships with leagues and teams. Fanatics has been on a relentless push to develop relationships with major sports leagues. For example, it signed a 10-year deal in May with the National Football League to make Fanatics one of the primary suppliers of apparel to the league’s teams and fans. That came on the heels of similar deals it has reached with the NHL, NBA, MLB and MLS. Meanwhile, Ticketmaster is the official ticketing partner of the NFL, NBA, NHL, College Football Playoffs, PGA Tour and dozens of pro and college teams. Fanatics is an official licensee of all four major U.S. sports leagues and operates the online stores for hundreds of sports properties.
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Fanatics’ push to develop exclusive relationships has helped its online revenue soar. The retailer grew an Internet Retailer-estimated 28.5% in 2017 over 2016.
Fanatics is featured in the 2019 Hot 100, which features trend-setting retailers categorized for their innovation in marketing, content, omnichannel, business model, technology, design and growth. Download and explore the complete 2019 Hot 100 list from Internet Retailer.