[TechWeb Report] September 7th news, according to Reuters , sports e-commerce company Fanatics CEO Doug Mack said that the company has received $1 billion in financing led by SoftBank, with the participation of the American Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB). After the financing is completed, the company's valuation will be approximately US$4.5 billion.
Fanatics is located in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. It sells related products online for NBA and NFL, as well as famous football clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid. Most of Fanatics' business is in the United States, mainly engaged in product authorization and handling the sales of team uniforms and other products.
Fanatics said it will use the newly raised funds to hire more engineers, data scientist and designers.
recommended Fanatics to SoftBank is Michael Rubin, the chairman of the company. Rubin previously established a company called GSI Commerce, which received $100 million in SoftBank's investment before selling it to eBay for $2.4 billion.
Mark said in an interview Tuesday that he hopes to expand revenue in the international market by leveraging SoftBank’s expertise in Asia. The company's current sales from the international market account for about 10% of its total revenue. When talking about international business, Mark said that this part of the business will definitely grow several times and plans to develop the business into major international alliances.
SoftBank’s investment in Fanatics comes from SoftBank Vision Fund. The fund was initiated by SoftBank founder and Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son. It has reached US$93 billion, making it the largest private equity fund in the world. (yoyo)
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