Fanatics

Michael Rubin bought Fanatics back from eBay in 2011 and turned a small licensed-sports retailer into a vertically integrated global sports platform. What started as an e-commerce business for pro and college teams became a one-stop shop for jerseys, headwear, collectibles, and betting, powered by close partnerships with the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.

The company later expanded beyond apparel by acquiring Topps and Mitchell & Ness, adding trading cards and heritage brands to its portfolio. Those moves were meant to make Fanatics less dependent on jersey sales and more embedded in how fans connect with sports year round.

Despite that scale, Rubin still runs Fanatics with a startup mentality, obsessing over gaps in the fan experience rather than past wins. He has said publicly that even a multi-billion-dollar business still feels like a work in progress, and that mindset keeps leadership focused on execution instead of celebration.

That willingness to adapt has kept the company at the center of sports fandom even as consumer habits and league relationships continue to shift. From real-time product drops after blockbuster trades to new betting and collectibles verticals, Fanatics keeps broadening what a sports platform can be.