Nike, Fanatics partner with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Nov 25, 2022

Nike and Fanatics have partnered with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants connecting fans to the most successful Japanese baseball team in history.    

The new partnership will see Nike become the official uniform supplier of the Yomiuri Giants. Fanatics will manufacture and distribute uniforms and player performance items, as well as additional Nike-branded fan jerseys and apparel. Moreover, Fanatics’s will create autograph and collectible products for fans. 

Fanatics will exclusively operate the e-commerce and physical retail business for the Yomiuri Giants. Looking ahead, it is expected that Fanatics will launch a new online store at the end of January and will refurbish its retail stores at the Tokyo Dome. 

“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.” 

The Yomiuri Giants are the first individual club in global sport to adopt the model. 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. 

“The Yomiuri Giants are the most successful Japanese baseball team in history and has one of the strongest fan bases across Asia in any sport,” added Doug Mack, vice chairman of Fanatics Inc. and CEO of Fanatics Commerce. 

“It is an honor to work with such a historic organization and for them to become the largest individual club in any sport globally to adopt what we believe is the most innovative and fan centric model in the licensed sports merchandise industry. For a club as prestigious as the Yomiuri Giants to put its faith in Fanatics is testament to the success of this game changing model we have built with Nike and to our focus on always putting the fan first.”