University of Tennessee and Fanatics Elevate the Fan Experience through 10-Year Retail and Fan Apparel Partnership
Fanatics, a global leader for licensed sports merchandise, and the University of Tennessee today announced an exclusive and innovative retail partnership that sees Fanatics become a primary retail partner of the University and gain a comprehensive set of new vertical and wholesale fan apparel rights. Fanatics, who has been a partner of UT Athletics since 2010, has also received a long-term extension to continue operating the Volunteers’ e-commerce and mobile retail experience.
Under this expanded partnership, Fanatics and its in-house apparel division, Fanatics Brands, has obtained rights to design, manufacture and distribute a significantly expanded selection of high quality, on-trend Vols and Lady Vols merchandise for all members of the family. A key benefit to the University will be Fanatics’ agile supply chain and on-demand manufacturing capabilities, which will deliver the fastest speed to market of real-time, high quality UT merchandise to fans, students and alumni regardless of location. Fanatics quickly displayed these partnership benefits recently in designing and executing a new Volunteer baseball t-shirt featuring the popular Home Run Jack logo in less than 48 hours.
“Through its efforts to produce and deliver outstanding products in creative and innovative ways, Fanatics has long enabled the Tennessee fanbase to easily display its passion for the Vols and Lady Vols,” Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations Alicia Longworth said. “We're thrilled to extend that partnership and continue outfitting Vol Nation with top-of-the-line merchandise.”
In addition to new apparel rights, Tennessee has extended Fanatics’ operations of the University’s online and mobile shop, shop.UTsports.com, which is run through the company’s Cloud Commerce Platform. The site features include high resolution product displays, frictionless check out, and rapid access to the latest Volunteer merchandise, whether shopping on desktop, phones, or tablets.
“The University of Tennessee has been a tremendous partner over the past decade-plus, and we’re thrilled to extend and expand our relationship together,” said Chris Prindiville, SVP of Fanatics College. “The Volunteer faithful deserve a world-class product assortment to showcase pride and passion for the University and favorite teams, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to now create a significantly expanded merchandise offering including real-time products unique to Vol Nation.”
The deal follows a detailed analysis of the Department’s licensing program and a proposal process completed in conjunction with the University’s exclusive licensing agent, CLC. While Fanatics acquires some exclusive fan apparel rights, Tennessee will retain its partnership with Nike as the provider of performance products and select apparel for UT Athletics.
In addition to the University of Tennessee, Fanatics holds similar primary fan apparel deals with renowned college partners including the University of Notre Dame, The University of Oklahoma, University of Minnesota, University of Oregon, University of Florida, and University of Miami.