NFL Apparel Deal Assigns Jerseys to Nike, Fan Gear to Fanatics

(Bloomberg) -- National Football League owners Wednesday approved a new 10-year agreement that will make Nike Inc. and Fanatics Inc. the primary suppliers of apparel to the league’s teams and fans.

As of 2020, Nike will continue to make all on-field NFL apparel, including player jerseys and base layers. All of the fan gear -- replica jerseys, warm-ups, championship t-shirts -- will have the Nike logo, but they will be made and distributed by Fanatics.

Until this deal, Nike had been making everything. Splitting the award is a new strategy for the NFL, though Major League Baseball has struck a similar agreement with Under Armour and Fanatics, also set to start in 2020.

The world’s largest seller of licensed sports merchandise, Fanatics has focused on speed and distribution to offer leagues and teams a wider assortment of products at a faster pace. That includes their own Fanatics-branded apparel and apparel from other companies. The NFL has a small equity stake in the San Mateo-based company, which also runs the league’s online store and the online shops of many of its franchises.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Jessica Brice

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