Aston Villa, a Premier League (PL) team, and Fanatics have announced an extension of their already running merchandise retail and manufacturing agreement.
As part of the new deal, Fanatics will keep running the club’s retail store at Villa Park.
Fanatics originated as an online retailer of licensed sportswear and merchandise in the United States, where it now manages the e-commerce operations of various professional franchises and multimedia firms, and also dozens of college and pro team assets.
The agreement came after a considerable increase in Villa apparel sales through the club’s authorized retail website, which had increased by more than 450 per cent since Fanatics and Aston Villa began working with each other in 2017. In 2021, Fanatics’ international reach, which is currently situated in 13 nations across the world, shipped products to Villa fans in 85 different countries from various locations. Villa will leverage next-generation e-commerce platforms and the manufacturer’s vertical business approach, which blends the on-demand production with an efficient supply chain to offer the most timely product assortments, to continue its cooperation with Fanatics.
In addition, the team shall continue to use Fanatics’ industry-leading digital commerce platform, that allows supporters to navigate quickly between web and mobile websites. This has led to rapid website performance, greater product displays, numerous denominations, and effortless purchasing for Villa supporters all over the world, improving the club’s fans’ shopping experience.
Nicola Ibbetson, Aston Villa Football Club’s Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Our partnership with Fanatics has been highly successful and has experienced significant growth in recent years, so we are thrilled to have cemented this relationship through this extension of our partnership. We have seen sales grow significantly over the past few years and going forwards the focus will be on increasing the product offering for Aston Villa’s growing global fanbase and continuous improvement to the innovation and technology we can bring to the retail experience for our fans.”
Danny Downs, Fanatics UK General Manager, stated, “We are delighted that due to the phenomenal growth of the Aston Villa online business in recent years we are extending our relationship with this historic football club. From the moment we first partnered with Villa in 2017 we could see that the fans were incredibly passionate about their team and we have been privileged to serve them wherever they might be based in the world. We can’t wait to bring them even more choice in the coming years and continue our partnership with this innovative and forward-thinking club.”
Fanatics works alongside a variety of Europe’s top football teams as well as some of the world’s most prestigious athletic organizations, including the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Formula One (F1).