At Fanatics Fest this summer, fans saw celebrities and athletes move quickly from station to station on the floor of the Javits Center in midtown Manhattan.
What they didn’t see behind the scenes is what stopped even A-listers such as Kevin Durant and Travis Scott in their tracks.
There, on rack after rack, were more than 1,000 vintage sports items from shirts to jerseys to jackets with tags on them that read “Fanatics Vintage.”
After a quiet couple months, the world’s licensed sports apparel maker is officially announcing the Fanatics Real Vintage line as the next segment of its growing retail business.
With the rise of vintage apparel — Fanatics data suggests the secondhand space is growing at three times the pace as traditional retail — the retailer is turning back the clock.
The opening offerings feature a collection of more than 6,000 pieces, with prices ranging from $35 to $250.
The items include T-shirts, jackets, jerseys, sweatshirts and hats from traditional brands such as Salem Sportswear, Lee Sports, Nutmeg Mills, Russell Athletic, Majestic, Reebok, adidas and Nike.
Some of the items include a 1991 NBA Finals T-shirt for $150, a Peja Stojakovic shirsey for $55 and a Brady Quinn Browns T-shirt for $70.
The company has contracted Springy, a leader in online vintage apparel, to curate the collection and authenticate that each item is indeed from the past.
Fanatics will now own the current licensing business for all four major U.S. men's pro leagues, historic licensing through mass-production Mitchell & Ness replicas and now a business that sells authentic clothing from the past.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.