Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin and NBA commissioner Adam Silver said prioritizing DTC and ensuring the fastest possible speed to market underpinned choosing Fanatics as licensee for replica jerseys, in an interview with Recode. Fanatics, which succeeded Foot Locker and Amazon in partnering with the league, brought the scale and speed to market combined with expertise in sports business that no one else offered, Silver said. Fanatics will do over $2 billion in revenue this year, all licensed products, with 75% of that direct-to-consumer through both e-commerce and the company’s venue-located fan stores, Rubin said. Its main advantage is that it ... Log in to view full article.