The Yomiuri Giants, the most successful baseball team in Japan, are updating their in-stadium shops, thanks to a new partnership with Nike and Fanatics, two of the biggest sports apparel companies.
Nike and Fanatics have partnered with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants connecting fans to the most successful Japanese baseball team. Nike will supply the Yomiuri Giants’ uniforms and Fanatics will produce and distribute uniforms, performance products and player apparel. Additionally, Fanatics will produce autographed and collector goods for customers.
Fanatics will exclusively manage the Yomiuri Giants’ physical and online retail operations. It will open a new online store at the end of January and renovate the retail spaces at Tokyo Dome in time for the start of the NPB 2023 season.
The Yomiuri Giants, by adopting the model, have become the first individual club in global sports to do so. Fanatics partners with more than 900 of the world’s leading sports organisations, clubs and leagues such as MLB, NFL, NBA, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Its vertical commerce will enhance both assortment and speed-to-market of Yomiuri Giants merchandise.
“It is a great honor and pleasure to partner with Fanatics, the global leader in licensed sports merchandise. We can imagine the joy on our fans’ faces brought by the innovative business model, which includes manufacturers, logistics, e-commerce and retailers using cutting-edge technology,” said Tsukasa Imamura, Representative Director and President of Yomiuri Giants.
“By combining Fanatics’ fan-centric philosophy of ‘everything exists for the fans’ with the history and tradition of Yomiuri Giants, celebrating 89 years since the team’s founding, we are confident that we can provide one of the best fan experiences in the world. Please look forward to this innovative partnership between Yomiuri Giants, Nike, and Fanatics, the first-of-its-kind in the world for an individual club.”
