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How Fanatics Beat Starter: Vertical Integration, Sports Merch, and the Future of eCommerce
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This episode of Selling on Giants takes a deep look at the business models behind Fanatics and Starter, and why their stories matter far beyond sports merchandise.
Starter became one of the most iconic sports apparel brands of the nineteen nineties. Starter jackets were cultural status symbols across the NFL, NBA, NHL, college sports, and streetwear. The brand had relevance, demand, and identity.
But underneath that cultural momentum was a structural weakness.
Starter relied heavily on wholesale distribution, traditional retail cycles, and slower operational systems. It had…
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