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• Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2018 (Revised June 2019)

  Michael Rubin and Fanatics (A)

  Robert F. Higgins and John Masko

  In 2016, Michael Rubin’s Fanatics was the U.S.’ largest sports e-commerce company, and operator of the official online store for all the major American sports leagues. That year, Fanatics began to dabble in manufacturing licensed sports merchandise, securing limited permissions from leagues to manufacture apparel in response to ‘micro-moments,’ sudden surges of interest in a team or player that were too abrupt for the league’s usual licensees to react to. The success of these efforts raised the possibility that Fanatics might make a play to displace a major athletic wear manufacturer as the official merchandise licensee of a major sports league. For a company with little manufacturing infrastructure and experience however, it was unclear whether this was an advisable step for Fanatics, or how they would go about it.

  Keywords: Fanatics; licensed merchandise; e-commerce; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Sports; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Higgins, Robert F., and John Masko. "Michael Rubin and Fanatics (A)." Harvard Business School Case 819-077, November 2018. (Revised June 2019.)  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | May 2019

  SeatGeek

  Robert F. Higgins and Sarah Mehta

  Teaching Note for HBS No. 819-013.

  Keywords: Event Ticketing; Sports Ticketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Model; Decision Making; Market Platforms; Sports; Strategy; Mobile Technology; Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Sports Industry; New York (city, NY);

  Citation:

  Higgins, Robert F., and Sarah Mehta. "SeatGeek." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 819-104, May 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019 (Revised January 2019)

  An eSports Profile: Team Liquid & aXiomatic

  Robert F. Higgins and James Barnett

  Citation:

  Higgins, Robert F., and James Barnett. "An eSports Profile: Team Liquid & aXiomatic." Harvard Business School Case 819-076, January 2019. (Revised January 2019.)  View Details

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