Internet and telecoms conglomerate SoftBank, through its $93bn Vision Fund, has led a $1bn funding round in US-based sports e-commerce platform Fanatics, TechCrunch reported today.
The round, first rumoured a month ago, also included sports bodies National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB).
While a valuation has not been confirmed, Reuters put the figure at $4.5bn. Michael Rubin, executive chairman of Fanatics, told TechCrunch his company had sought a higher valuation than they were given but SoftBank would not agree.
Fanatics has created an e-commerce platform that sells official sports team merchandise and apparel. In April 2017, the company acquired a manufacturing business to produce team jerseys and some other products itself in future.
Fanatics acts as the official merchandise partner for NFL and MLB as well as fellow sports bodies National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Nascar.
Originally founded in 1995, Fanatics was later acquired by e-commerce services group GSI Commerce in 2011. GSI was acquired by online auction platform eBay for $2bn the following year, resulting in Rubin, who was also the founder of GSI, buying back Fanatics.
Fanatics has raised $1.62bn since 2012, including $170m from e-commerce group Alibaba and Singapore state-owned investment firm in 2013 at a $3.1bn post-money valuation.
NFL purchased a 3% stake in Fanatics for $95m in May this year, at a valuation of approximately $3.17bn. MLB reportedly supplied $50m, while labour organisation NFL Players Association put in $5m.