Online retailer Fanatics is set to offer a live-streamed shopping experience for its customers.
Key Details
- Recently, the sports merchandise retailer hired former Google executive Nick Bell to lead the company’s new live-stream unit, Fanatics Live.
- While live-stream shopping is exceptionally popular in China, it hasn’t yet had great success in the U.S. Walmart and TikTok have attempted to capitalize on this selling option.
- Fanatics content creators will promote products like trading cards to the company’s nearly 90 million sports fans.
- The live-streamed videos will feature creators opening brand-new trading cards and selling them to viewers. Viewers will have the option to buy the cards in the Fanatics app or on its website.
Why it’s news
Last year, Fanatics acquired baseball card company Topps Co., which will be a vital component of the new live-stream shopping platform. The sports retailer also had deals with Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Football League to produce their trading cards.
Eventually, Fanatics Live could grow to include other categories of sports merchandise, but for now, the unit will focus on collaborating with content creators and entertaining fans, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Fanatics Live will replace an existing company division with the same name. The previous focus of Fanatics Live was meet-and-greet videos featuring popular athletes. This content will continue, though under a new name.
Bell is the most recent executive to join the Fanatics team. Late last year, Fanatics hired former Beats head of marketing Jason White to lead Fanatics’ sports and gambling division.