Everton Football Club has expanded its agreement with official retail partner Fanatics to grow its overseas merchandising business and help design the retail operation at its planned new stadium.
Fanatics operates a ‘v-commerce’ retail model consisting of an agile supply chain which enables sports teams and leagues to rapidly produce merchandise in response to on-field events and demand from supporters. The company already partners with a number of major US rights-holders, including the NFL, NBA and NHL and is now looking to develop relationships with European and Asian teams and leagues.
The retail and merchandising specialist already operates the Everton One retail outlet at the team’s Goodison Park stadium, Everton Two in Liverpool city centre and the club’s online store at evertondirect.com.
The expanded partnership includes commitments towards work on planning for Everton’s move to Bramley-Moore Dock, and the design of the retail experience at the new stadium.
A statement said Everton will also benefit from Fanatics’ own international expansion programme, and benefit from greater international visibility and distribution thanks to Fanatics’ expanding supply chain, global warehousing and increased production capabilities.
Sasha Ryazantsev, chief finance and commercial officer at Everton Football Club, said: “Our fans can look forward to an even wider range of club merchandise, no matter where they are in the world.”
In an interview with SportBusiness in 2018, Steve Davis, president of Fanatics, criticised the prevailing merchandising model in European football.
“Merchandise contribution to a club is not meaningful,” he said. “Media drives huge revenue and contribution to a club. The performance brand partners are largely marketing partnerships – more so than [about] the merchandise itself.”
