Fanatics, the world’s biggest licensed sports merchandise retailer, has raised $325 million from new and existing investors in a funding round that valued the company at $18 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Current backers SoftBank and Silver Lake, as well as new investors such as Jay Z, participated in the round, the source said, requesting anonymity.
Fanatics is attempting to leverage its fan base to build a sports commerce powerhouse that operates gaming, sports betting and media business units on top of its retail operations.
The latest round is Fanatics’ third capital raise within a year, during which the company has almost tripled its valuation from $6.2 billion in August 2020.
Source: Reuters
By Krystal Hu
