If you’re like me, not only do you enjoy your sports, but you have a sizable collection of caps, shirts, hoodies, and other merchandise featuring your favorite team’s logo. If you open the door to my closet, you will find a lot of shirts, hoodies, and the almighty quarter-zip, with a San Jose Sharks logo on it. You will also see an assortment of company logos on that apparel such as Reebok, Nike, Antigua, Starter, and Logo Athletic, just to name a few. The one logo you will never find in my closet is Fanatics.
The Back Story
Up until 2016, I’d never heard of Fanatics. Any Sharks gear I picked up was generally made by Reebok over the last decade or so. I’m sure you all remember the Reebok Edge jersey unveiled back in 2007. Prior to that reveal, Nike, Starter, and Logo Athletic made up the majority of my Sharks apparel. Since the transition to Reebok in 2007, almost every piece of Sharks swag I’ve picked up features a Reebok logo. And I loved it. Reebok could be counted on to produce consistent and quality product. Every shirt fit the same as did every cap.
10 years later, the deal with Reebok is no more. Hell, Reebok is essentially no more. Most people would’ve thought a natural transition to Adidas would make the most sense since Adidas acquired Reebok back in 2005. Instead, the NHL and Fanatics Announced a Long-Term Multichannel Apparel and Retail Partnership.
Why Fanatics Sucks
Look, I get it. Certain things are subjective. Whether it’s the music of a particular band, the call of a certain announcer, or the taste of Jack In The Box curly fries at 2am. To some people, it’s the best and to others, there’s nothing worse. However, the sucking of Fanatics is not subjective. It just is.
TealTownUSA co-host Erik Kuhre recently bought a shirt from “A Fanatics Experience”, shop.NHL.com. This is not an experience I would recommend. After ONE WASH, the artwork is already flaking off. However, we both have shirts we purchased 25 YEARS AGO that are in better condition than this week old Fanatics shirt!
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No Quality Control
Prior to Fanatics taking over the Sharks Store in 2017, I was an avid visitor, bordering on habitual. The selection of merchandise was always solid and the quality was always dependable. I could see a shirt or cap with the Reebok logo and wouldn’t even need to try it on. The consistency was so good, I knew it would fit how I expected every time. After the change to Fanatics, there is next to no consistency. You can try on 3 different shirts of the same design and size and each will fit differently. It’s the same with caps. You will also find the material is much thinner (read: cheaper) too. 47Brand is also guilty of this. I expect a shirt to wear down after some years of ownership. I don’t expect to buy it in that condition already. And how can you not get the color teal consistent?
Cmon @Fanatics. Is it that difficult to find a consistent color of teal? #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/BhJcDGzvH9
— AJ Strong (@aj_strong) March 2, 2019
My other issue with Fanatics is that all of their product is homogenized. Have a look at shop.nhl.com and you will find nearly every item, aside from the team logo, is the same. Perhaps if their designs weren’t so uninspiring and dull, the similarities wouldn’t be so pronounced. However, they still have some Reebok inventory available for some items. Take a look at the Reebok branded items and you will see there are designs specific to a particular team. And those designs are just flat out better and more creative.
Lost Revenue
The Fanatics also seems to have a habit of waiting until the last minute to stock items, if they stock them at all, or they simply don’t make enough product to meet demand. Either way, it’s lost revenue. For the unaware, to begin the 2016-2017 season, the Sharks turned over store operations to Fanatics and up until just a couple weeks before the All Star Game, there was next to nothing in the way of All Star merchandise at the Sharks Store. Why? The only All Star jersey available to purchase was Burns. No Pavelski. No Karlsson. WHY?? You’re losing sales!
During the Fan Fair that ran from Thursday through Saturday over All Star weekend, Fanatics had a huge shop taking up a significant amount of floor space. Before the first day had ended, they were not only sold out of Sharks All Star Emoji pucks, but also the few Pavelski and Karlsson jerseys they actually had. And I hope you like black because there were no white versions. I attended Fan Fair on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I heard several fans on Friday and Saturday asking about pucks and jerseys only to be told they were sold out. How does Fanatics underestimate demand that badly?
What does it all mean?
It means I’m not spending money like I used to on Sharks merchandise! It means fans want to buy merchandise but Fanatics isn’t meeting demand. Again, I cannot state enough that this is not the fault of the Sharks, but of Fanatics and the NHL for signing the deal.
Prior to Fanatics running Sharks merchandise, I would stop into the Sharks store during nearly every game I attended. I always felt as if there might be something new. FOMO is a hell of a drug and I will admit I need my fix on occasion.
Another thing that Fanatics has appeared to have eliminated are clearance racks. Ask anyone in retail and they will tell you getting people into the store is more than half the battle. Those clearance racks also got me to visit the store on game days when I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. They also got me to visit the store more than a few times during the summer because who doesn’t love to find a great deal?
This season, of the 10 games I’ve already been to, I’ve really only visited the store twice. Both times were to check out the new Stealth gear for this season. For the 5 remaining games, I have no desire to visit the Sharks store. I know there will be nothing on clearance and 95% of what’s in the store can be found online so why bother? Fanatics even eliminated the sale of warm-up pucks which were a great memento from a game since paper tickets are now a thing of the past.
I’d be quite interested to know how sales have been over the last 2 years versus the final 2 years before Fanatics took over. I may very well be wrong, but I can’t imagine sales are as good with Fanatics running the store.
What I do know is the reputation of Fanatics is circling the drain further and further. But it’s the team logo featured on the merchandise with a small Fanatics logo. Hopefully soon, teams will realize this poor quality reflects on the team. When I worked for a music company years ago, if our product showed up late or damaged, companies tended to blame us and not the shipping company. Their poor service reflected on our company… so we changed shipping companies.
I guess what I’m trying to say Fanatics is… it’s not me. It’s you.
What’s your take on Fanatics? Leave it in the comments below.
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Danny
February 1, 2019 at 10:18 am
Fanatics overall is just a bummer. The article hits the nail on the head… what’s worse, for me, is ever since taking over the Sharks Store I am unable to call and place a phone order UNLESS it’s to purchase a jersey. Since I live in the LA area, I used to call in if I learned of an item I had to have, and they’d ship it to me – way to alienate out of town fans. Hopefully this changes at some point in the future.
AJ Strong
February 1, 2019 at 11:23 am
I completely agree. When I worked for a music company back in the day, easily 30% of our orders came from phone orders to people out of the area. I don’t know that team stores would sell up to 30% through online and phone sales, but it’s lost revenue regardless.
Marc Baer
January 25, 2020 at 3:22 pm
I’m a little late to the party, but fanatics is completely trash. I wish they’d go out of business.
Lisa Schonbrun
February 1, 2019 at 10:31 am
Get out of my head! 🙂 Seriously many Sharks fans/friends and I have been saying the same thing! I hounded the Sharks store at SAP for weeks almost daily looking for a Pavs or Karlsson All-Star jersey and I never did see one. I also ordered two of them on the shop.nhl on Jan 14th … only to have one mysteriously cancelled and the other (I ordered 5 hours later) to be still pending and despite multiple calls to the shop can only be told they don’t know if they will ever get inventory. WTH! I showed up at 3:30 on Saturday at SAP to buy the All-Star Sharks hat (the one EK65 wore at skills) only to be told by 5 different stands including club level that they sold out of those very quickly during skills. This is one of many missteps with inventory management. I’m still waiting to get a Stealth scarf because those were gone within 1-2 games and I’ve been told no one knows if they are ever coming back. The store at the tank should have been flooded with all-star merch for the months leading up to the game. Let people buy it early and wear it all over the city…it’s free advertising for the NHL and All-Star game. The inventory issue is making me so crazy I don’t even want to shop for any more Sharks gear. It’s just too frustrating!
AJ Strong
February 1, 2019 at 11:25 am
It’s dumbfounding to see how poorly Fanatics stocked the store and Fan Fair shop during All Star weekend. How do you not bring at least 5x the amount of Sharks ASG merchandise? The game is in SAN JOSE! So many missed opportunities.
Matthew Winstead
February 1, 2019 at 11:18 am
What upsets me the most about Fanatics is they don’t sell the real Authentic jerseys Reebok used to. They call them authentic but they’re far from it. I’ve been collecting every Authentic jersey the Sharks have worn (home and away) since 1991. When teams were wearing patches that year it would automatically come with it. Now you have to buy the all star patch from a different site when you buy a Fanatics “authentic” jersey customized and bring it in with your all star jersey or the regular jerseys won’t come with it and it costs $120 instead of the usual $80 with the Reebok jerseys.
As for shirts I’ve bought from Fanatics you’re correct about it stuff washing off after just one time! I HATE Fanatics. They’re material is garbage and overpriced.
AJ Strong
February 1, 2019 at 11:26 am
Are you talking about the reebok authentic that had the neon lining in the collar? I believe those weren’t completely authentic. Those were made in Indonesia while authentic are made in Canada.
Jon Clark
February 1, 2019 at 12:34 pm
I dont have the time or energy to type much…. but spot on! As a fan, it’s depressing on many levels.
Doug
February 1, 2019 at 2:17 pm
The fan fest store did have 30% on Sunday but that was it. The Sharks teamstore moved all their AS gear to that fanatics store and now you your only option is to buy online.
I really wanted a Sharks emoji AS shirt but they ran out of those. Now you can’t buy it anywhere else! So frustrating.
Lyndsey
February 1, 2019 at 5:43 pm
Finally, someone agrees. Fanatics is horrible. At least 75% of my closet is hockey related. I have a t-shirt from the ’96 all-star game, that is in better condition than 1 from last week’s.
Joe
February 1, 2019 at 7:13 pm
This hits the nail on the head but does not even begin to adequately express how much Fanatics sucks. I bought two sweatshirts last year and the logos were misprinted on both of them and the sizing was not even close. I called to get an exchange and the sizing was wrong again and the logos were misprinted again, but in a miraculously different way proving that apparently pasting a logo on a piece of clothing can be difficult for some. I have had entire orders cancelled without notification and no explanation provided. My one piece of advice to fanatics is stop doing everything you are doing and figure out any other way to do it… I promise you it will not be worse.
Amanda
February 1, 2019 at 11:11 pm
Overall, everything I have bought is poor quality and I have refused to buy anything from Fanatics due to this. I would happily buy products of my favorite teams in NHL, NFL and MLB if the products were good but the Fanatics products leave the customers wanting. They aren’t even worth it at the constant 65% off emails I receive regularly.
You know my name
February 2, 2019 at 3:01 am
Oh how I wish I could have been consulted for this article! Fanatics is costing the team so much in regards to $’s and happiness. I am corporate partner and Suiteowner. I probably spend more than most anyone in that crappy store. When it was the sharks run store I used to be able to ask my customers who their favorite players were and then go down to the store and buy them a pro style jersey with stitched letters, patches and fight straps and make my customers happy. Mind you these Jerseys are usually $275. I did those so frequently that I had a credit in the store for thousands of dollars that I could use as needed. When fanatics took over it took them over an entire season to figure out to let me access my credit. It was so bad that I’m the last night of the season I told the manager I wouldn’t leave the store until he checked me out with my credit. This led to intervention by the sharks .org and the police. I have to say that the sharks are the best and they did everything they could to try and fix the problems I had raised, but unfortunately fanatics is just bad. I bought a half dozen all-star pro jerseys and cannot tell you how ridiculous it is that the all-star patch wasn’t on those jerseys,. We tried for two weeks prior to the event to buy youth size jerseys with sharks logos, to no avail. How happy do you think I am that I had to buy my kid a knights jersey to appease him. How about the fact that fanatics gift cards couldn’t be used, nor any suiteowner discounts etc. at the all-star game. The sharks store used to have unique items that would draw people in before and after games. Remember the pregame warm up pucks that had both teams logos and the date, gone. i could go on and on, But unfortunately fanatics just doesn’t care and I am just getting more and more pissed off thinking about it…
Neebs
February 2, 2019 at 7:12 am
Might be a bit off the topic of distribution here but my two cents anyway. Agree with the Fanatics product evaluation….. (can’t comment on the SAP store unfortunately). But I must say I am not a big fan of the thin Reeboks T-shirts either. Much prefer the Majestic Brand when I can get them. Reebok jerseys are the business.
Nick
February 2, 2019 at 8:21 am
Hey, just letting you know coolhockey.com is the best in my opinion for buying team gear. I recommend checking them out! Ordered from them twice, quality is way better than Fanatics and cheaper. Great article though. Sad how Fanatics runs things.
Chan
February 4, 2019 at 10:40 pm
I never heard of coolhockey and its not BBB certified. I dunno about the quality but sweaters seem pricey – $200 for a Boedker?
GTCampbell
March 15, 2019 at 3:13 pm
The Fanatics replica jerseys are a huge rip-off, in my opinion. In addition to my Adidas authentic jersey I also happen to own a Fanatics replica jersey also as well as a cheap knock-off jersey made in China that I bought on eBay. The knock-off jersey is much better quality than the Fanatics replica jersey. In fact, if you were to compare it side-by-side with an authentic Adidas jersey, most people would have a hard time distinguishing which one is the knock-off jersey. The knock-off jersey that looks and feels almost identical to the Adidas jersey cost me $50… one-third the price of the cheaply-made $150 Fanatics replica jersey.
AJ Strong
March 15, 2019 at 5:10 pm
Yeah, you know it’s bad when a Chinese knock-off is better than Fanatics. It’s not surprising though.
Alex
May 30, 2019 at 8:08 am
I ended up on this page doing a Google search about how Fanatics is taking over the NHL merchandise. I hate it. I love my Adidas made Avs jersey. I have a 2018 Adidas made Avs Stanley Cup playoffs tshirt that still holds up to regular wear and washes. But for 2019 there was no Adidas gear. It was all either Fanatics or the NHL brand that I don’t know who makes. Adidas still makes jerseys but hats, shirts, hoodies seem to be mostly Fanatics. I don’t mind ’47 brand, I’ll take them any day over Fanatics.
Steve
June 9, 2019 at 7:40 am
This article isn’t just for sharks fans — I’m on east coast and I’ve stopped buying my college and pro shirts unless they are under armor or Nike because the overwhelming amount of options are only fanatics — which means they will shrink and flake and be completely useless after one wash and I’ve regretted too many of those purchases to count — so, while I’m sure fanatics sold out on what they are paying the leagues, they had to lower quality so far to produce garbage that nobody should buy and all will lose eventually
JC
June 16, 2019 at 1:22 pm
I’ve worked for fanatics and have to agree they do suck big time. They are a lousy company to work for and make employees become slaves. I worked in the Fan Protection dept. Orders going outside of the US we would cancel If they didn’t have order history using a aus credit card. We also did a lot of other things. I BELIEVE they are a company that just cares about profit not employees. If u need anything else let me know
Ginni Linn
September 27, 2019 at 6:07 pm
I just ordered a Bruins hoodie from NHL.com. It’s a Fanatics brand. Came today. Horrible. I ordered a women’s large figuring these tend to run small. I could barely even get it on!!! And I’m not a big person. I normally wear a medium. Not only that, the darn thing smells awful and it’s not even soft. I really want a Bruins hoodie, and there are no decent ones to be had. I’m bummed. Looked online to see if anyone else hated this crappy merchandise and saw your article. It’s right on the mark!
Big Ole Bulldog
November 2, 2019 at 11:20 am
Spot on! Fanatics is horrible!!! I bought a custom Georgia jersey a couple of years ago and the name on the back was very poor quality. You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson then, but when I tried to buy another for a different team – Air Force Academy – they were “Almost Gone!” The only size they had left? 3XL. Honestly, not trying to rag on USAFA, but how high a demand for a personalized Air Force jersey could there possibly be? Shameful how literally every online store for every team in America – college and above – has been hijacked by this awful company. #BoycottFanatics
Travis Currie
November 17, 2019 at 9:06 pm
I came here after Google searching “Fanatics taking over everything”. I’m up in Canada and I’m a huge 49ers fan. I cannot find anywhere on line to get around these guys. I could order from a Canadian page to avoid hefty taxes and duties but the inventory is maybe 1/6 of what’s available to me on the .com American sites. They advertise big sales, hurry up time is ticking, but the sales are poor snd sometimes when I go to checkout it’s not even applied to some items even though it was advertised. Basically when I add say 2 shirts and 2 hats, by the time I get to checkout it’s not even worth it. I used to be able to order through Lids and hats would ship direct to a store close by me. They’ve axed that now. No matter where I turn I’m buying from Fanatics and I’m paying out my arse. Can’t stand it. Forget these guys
Tracy S
November 24, 2019 at 5:45 am
I HATE Fanatics merch. It doesn’t matter if it’s NHL or NFL. I didn’t really have any experience with them until the Blues win the cup and everything is Fanatics. First thing I noticed was no hates are embroidered, everything is ironed on Logos are crooked and quality is anything but good. Recently order a new Niners shirt and after exchanging it 3 times the colors on the front and back still don’t match like they do on the web. None of there probe ya are as advertised and certainly not worth the coin they are charging. I call and complain but I just end up yelling at someone in India who’s name is Bob and is reading from a printed flow chart lol. Very sad
Chris
November 27, 2019 at 6:16 am
I’m not a Sharks fan. I’m an Islanders fan from Long Island. However, you are correct. I cannot even find a New Era Cap now. I had no idea they lost their license with the NHL. Fanatics is absolute garbage. When the new jerseys came out in 2017 I wanted an Authentic Adidas. Unfortunately, the slim cut doesn’t work for an American man like me with a Gut. I felt like I was sandwiched in it. So I learned that Fanatics makes the replicas not Adidas and the quality just didn’t make the cut like the logos on the front were not like the old Reebok jerseys. Fanatics is taking over every sport. Where did this company come from? I sure don’t want their merchandise. Who funded this as a startup. We need to get real quality products back!
Danny Rudisill
December 4, 2019 at 5:38 am
I purchased what I thought was an authentic Washington Nationals World Series Majestic T-shirt from Fanatics. When I received the shirt, it was a Gildan brand t-shirt with the Majestic logo screen printed under the Gildan tag. It plainly states on their website that the brand of shirt is Majestic, but it was a Gildan 5.3oz brand shirt. It is far inferior to the Majestic shirts that used to be sold. Majestic used to be owned by VF Corporation and when you ordered an official Major League apparel item, you could be assured that it was a Majestic brand shirt. I complained to Fanatics and I got this reply, “Gildan is our supplier for blank shirts, Majestic will print the graphics on the garment. Also, Fanatics and Majestic are one in the same. You could receive Gildan, Majestic, or Fanatics printed on the inside”. I understand that Fanatics bought the Majestic name from VF Corporation recently, but they mention nothing about receiving a Gildan shirt on their website. The brand listed for the shirt that I ordered was “Majestic” and yet I received a Gildan shirt. It wasn’t even Gildan’s best shirt. I wonder if they even still make Majestic brand shirts. They have cheapened the name of Majestic and Major League Baseball. They are simply screen printing that Majestic logo onto a cheap Gildan shirt, which they can get by with because they own the name. They need to be much more forthcoming on their website. They need to tell people that they are not getting the same quality of shirt that they are used to previously when they were authentic Majestic shirts. They are selling cheap t-shirts for exorbitant prices and deceiving the public. This would not have happened if VF still owned the Majestic brand. Major League Baseball needs to take notice of this and take control over their brand. It is not being treated with the respect that it used to.
Alex
December 11, 2019 at 10:00 am
I came here because I hate Fanatics. Guys the “Black Friday” deals were a joke on the Fanatics website. They marked up the prices then gave you a “discount” off the marked up price, so you really aren’t getting a discount at all. Come on do they think we are all dense? Their “sales” aren’t sales at all, but a fleecing of dumb consumers. I won’t play their game. I refuse to buy anything from the Fanatics website. I just go to the University bookstore website from my college and buy there. I still pay full price from the college bookstore but at least they don’t try to deceive me.
ytown
December 21, 2019 at 12:17 pm
fanatics ruined everything its a joke what they let them do these companies should be ashamed of themselves letting them dicate what they do, everything fantaics make is cookie cutter stuff , pro sports sold there sole to garbage and left the real sport shops mom and pa in the cold who cared and were legitimate fans
Chris
December 23, 2019 at 1:13 pm
I think we might need legislation against this company. I think they are literally turning into a monopoly. I even read that Nike is going to be letting them manufacture the MLB jerseys. They bought every single license there is in the sports business, eliminating the competition. This can’t be allowed.
Jason Small
January 4, 2020 at 2:07 am
This goes for every team. I am a leafs fan and I love new era fitted hats. I REFUSE to buy a fanatics hat. They are garbage. Fans from ecery market must unite and convince the NHL to crush this lame merchandiser!!!
Torrel
January 7, 2020 at 5:50 pm
I have four Fanatics shirts, all size XL. One is skin tight. One is slightly tight, but ok, one fits great, and one looks like a muumuu or perhaps a small tent. For me to return the shirt, would pretty much cost me the same price as the shirt itself. This sucks.
Randy Bernstein
January 9, 2020 at 6:12 am
Warning warning sports gear enthusiast stay away from this company this company has no morals matter fact it could be run by somebody who is running our country but that’s another thing. Here’s my deal they tell you you can’t cancel an order but refuse it I refuse the new order never touched it now it’s sitting over 4 days at my postoffice waiting for FedEx to pick up enough returns and their great customer policies and staff tells me well we have to wait until we get the item back. I had one supervisor named Tiffany that said they would issue me a one time courtesy refund. Just now at Wednesday, January 8 at 3:24 AM EST. I just spoke to a supervisor some name gentleman named SIENI who said no Tiffany was wrong we have to wait until we get back the package when you’re returning a package to them it can sit at the United States post office is dark for 3 to 4 days until FedEx picks up.
Tiffany told me no all companies do that and I politely try to correct her and tell her no Nike doesn’t do that nor does Amazon when they receive that the shipper has the package they issue the refund immediately they don’t wait weeks until they get back to package!
I am more angry at myself than I am at them for giving him my business this is my fault!!!
But if you buy from
Any of the fanatics tentacles it’s your fault. Against every good part of me I have to say this, fanatics as a company deserves to go out of business!
Robert Kennedy
May 29, 2020 at 4:39 pm
I ordered some gear for each of the men in my family all being fanatics brand for christmas. It wasn’t cheap, but I certainly felt it when everyone opened their gifts. Crap quality. Never again.
Matt
June 2, 2020 at 10:06 am
Plain and simple, perfect article. Fanatics is killing this market. They have control over all the major retailers and they have ruined it.
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Zack Green
August 6, 2020 at 3:14 am
I don’t buy sports gear online anymore because Fanatics has THREE TIMES messed up and either not sent things, sent the wrong size (a 3xl instead of a large) and just now sent a clearly defective shirt to me where the lettering and design is crooked to the point it cannot be worn. I then tried to return it (which they lie and say is so easy) and was told I had to pay a $9.99 return label fee!!!! Their 24/7 live chat is not 24/7. The last shirt I bought from them was washed three times and still stained my chest and neck so bad I almost threw it away. I had to scrub to get the dye off my skin. (And I thought Amazon quality was bad)
I am not buying sports gear unless I am actually at a team store. The quality and customer service sucks.
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Rob
August 17, 2020 at 11:10 am
Can’t stand fanatics!The hats don’t fit right,the t shirts don’t fit right, cheap material. Will never buy Fanatics brand again! Love New Era
Tucker
August 23, 2020 at 5:50 am
I think Fanatics MAY be engaging in wire fraud and other deceptive trade practices.
I’m a KC Chiefs fan. Just after the Super Bowl win, I immediately ordered two white, Pat Mahomes SB jerseys from the Fantatics on-line store. (Approx $200.00 per). Almost immediately thereafter, I received an e-mail notification that the jerseys would not ship until April, 2020. When April 2020 arrived, I received another notification that the jerseys would not ship until Aug, 20202. When Aug, 2020 rolled around…I got another e-mail saying the jerseys would not ship until December 2020…nearly a full year after I ordered them.
When you attempt to engage the Fanatics customer service person via e-mail, all you get is non-responsive spam.
The 24/7 chat/helpline? Complete farce.
Is Fantatics just incompetent or are they running a criminal embezzlement scheme?
Michael A Scammon
September 20, 2020 at 1:48 pm
A little late to this, but whole-heartedly agree. I’ve virtually stopped buying merch due to this very issue. Last piece I purchased was a 49er hoodie, and the cheap graphics flaked off after one wash. They offered an exchange, but why? For another cheap-ass hoodie? Nope. Now I scour for Adidas or Nike, which is unfortunate because all their stuff, while good quality is very limited. I’ll never buy Fanatics brand again.
Ken
November 2, 2020 at 9:29 am
Shoddy merchandise made in El Salvador NFL and Nike and teams should rescind their licenses never going to buy from again
Bigg
November 18, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Fanatics gear Sucks its homogenized substandard I’m boycotting until they improve the Quality
Xavier Macy
December 6, 2020 at 10:30 am
Not only is it homogonized garbage the hats also fit different/weird and feel cheap as all hell. I was given shot glassses as a gift and if water even touched them the logos slid off like paper. Fanatics needs to go.
Steph
December 7, 2020 at 8:16 pm
I just got a Michigan zip up hoodie sweatshirt for me and one for my son and I couldn’t believe how poor the quality was. I got a good deal because it was Black Friday, but I still overpaid. The hoodies are thin and there are threads hanging out everywhere. Also, the Michigan letters on the women’s hoodie look so off–they are crammed together and it looks sloppy and not even like the actual school’s letters. I bought a Michigan hoodie from Champs (anyone remember Champs?) in a mall about 20 years ago and I still have it. I must have washed it a thousand times and it still looks and feels amazing. It’s thick and warm and only a little faded. What is happening to the clothing today?! I’m returning this crap and never using Fanatics again.
Aaron Toma
December 20, 2020 at 11:19 pm
I’m a store Manager at Lids and I can tell you the moment NHL and Adidas let Fanatics provide the caps it’s too plain and nobody wants them. Everything this article says it’s true as I write this dec 2020. The biggest problem with fanatics is that there owned by he same company that owns Lids and they run it the same why. They stripped selling clearance online, last minute for everything and the reason is they nickel and dime every little thing . They don’t comprehend that you pay for what you get, all they care about is the cheapest option
Rick
February 9, 2021 at 7:44 pm
The fact that Fanatics has bought out all other competition (i.e. they now control pricing and inventory on all their goods), you can’t shop the way a consumer wants to. Basically, it’s buy a Fanatics product (or one they sell at full retail on all their affiliated websites, or you have nothing to buy. And forget trying to find a “deal”. You can’t find one.
Basically, Fanatics has screwed the public customer, and they are laughing to the bank about it… because they don’t care at all!
John
March 8, 2021 at 9:52 am
They are trash. Two T-Shirts and printing flaking off after a few months of normal wear and washing. Did not catch it in time for the 90 day return policy (which couldn’t be returned after it was worn or washed anyway). Speaking with their call service, they implied I must not have been following the washing instructions. Of my two dozen shirts I wear on a regular basis this is only happening to the two fanatics shirts. Overpriced garbage.
Eric
May 21, 2021 at 6:59 pm
With all the Kraken merchandise coming out, I was hoping to get a long sleeve tee by Nike. No luck with that purchase. I ended up buying a ‘47 brand tee since it was not Fanatics. Our family has had better experiences with ‘47 when not buying a top brand. But there was a ton of items made by Fanatics.
Last year, a local retailer was selling sport related t-shirts and hoodies that did not pass quality control. Almost all of the items were Fanatics brand clothes.
Fanatics has ruined shopping for things related to sports. Beware!
David
July 9, 2021 at 2:33 pm
Your right. Very dissapointing. Im a Lightning fan that is very excited to be getting my new “Championship Stanley Cup” teeshirts. MY BEEF is, they are all practically 100% cotton. Me personally, and I dont mean to ve overly picky or splitting hairs, but I don’t like the ocerly soft feel. Thats just me.To me that soft of fabric has a sense of stiscking to me when I sweat, PLUS Ive had more problems with moth attacks on those, PLUS like aforementioned by someone else, the art design doesnt last like it should. It just is NOT as durable as the 90% cotton and 10% polyester. The 90%/10% is still soft but RUGGED at the same time. Tougher but soft. I dont want to feel like Im wearing soft soap. They do have ones that are near 50/50, but now your basically talking about the wicking material which I dont want. I want a rugged teeshirt. Not a big fan of fanatics.
AJ Strong
July 9, 2021 at 3:03 pm
Hopefully, your local team shop offers options other than Fanatics. Say Hi to Goodrow for us. 😉
Gina
July 17, 2021 at 2:53 pm
I didn’t realize so many other people hated them the way i do! Sorry Phillies, Sabres, and Orange: no more merch til FFs in the lurch
Paul
November 13, 2021 at 8:36 am
And now they will ruin sports cards as well. I can’t believe people think they will HELP the sports card hobby lol. They are modeling their business after Ashley Furniture.. we are so big we can do what we want, rip you off, screw you over, send you crap quality if we send you anything and the only thing you can do about it is not buy this stuff. This is the world we have created and tolerate.
Zach Swartz
November 27, 2021 at 8:15 am
Speaking of late to the party….stumbled upon this article after reading how False-atics is taking over the trading card business. I have experienced the exact problems everyone else has mentioned above. I stopped purchasing their brand a couple years ago when I had a St. Louis Blues t-shirt bleed blue all over me. Their quality couldn’t be any poorer. These days, I only buy Nike, New Era, Adidas, etc. Options are more limited, but it’s the way to go. Considering how universally poor their product/experience is, I’m surprised the major professional sports leagues haven’t taken them to task. As many have mentioned, False-atics quality reflects directly upon the fan experience of each league.
Michael Wright
December 7, 2021 at 8:24 am
They have ruined all sports merchandise. They control the market and no alternatives exist. They are ruining college mechandise also. So very sad, but they don’t care.
Perry
February 1, 2022 at 11:54 am
I got Super Bowl head to head dueling helmet t shirts every year. Then somehow they started being too thin, neck hole too big ,shirt sleeves were too short and tight. Logo too small. It’s like they sell knock offs now.
AJ Strong
February 2, 2022 at 8:44 am
Completely agree. All we can do is not buy it.
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Dave VH
May 15, 2022 at 12:56 pm
Their stuff is CRAP. A “framed” anything, is photo laminate,meaning its a piece of plastic, heat shrinked over a composite frame, and has a sheet of plastic covering it. ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!!!! Their jerseys are way out of size, im guessing their extra lg, accommodates the CHINESE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE DAMN THING.
T-Hawk
May 24, 2022 at 8:43 pm
Very disappointed to hear fanatics is monopolizing pro sports merchandise. The quality is horrible. Thin collars on t-shirts that stretch to oblivion, color and logos poor quality. Can’t buy any of their crap anymore. Seahawks fan that can’t rep my team anymore.