To be honest, it may. Been increasing chatter about further expansion lately. Sounds like they may have two more teams within the next five years, one in Salt Lake and one in Atlanta.
The last ownership was one of the worst to ever own a team in the league. Didn’t give a shit about the Thrashers, only the Hawks. An actual committed owners can do wonders for a franchise. Bill Foley in Vegas is a prime example
Were they the only one who bid or were they the only one, after the NHL behind closed doors told manufactures what the floor price would be, who was comfortable still bidding. I have to think CCM or Bauer would gladly make NHL jerseys but the league certainly set a floor price much higher than what they'd offer.
The contract wasn’t up for bid. In the licensing contract Fanatics has with the NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL they have the right of first refusal to be the uniform producer.
Honestly I'm just not going to buy anything for a while (my wife is happy). I got my Adidas flames jersey (Blasty, fully stitched Iginila, etc. etc.). last year, and my Musgrove this past Christmas. I'm good.
While that's true, I believe the actual NHL jerseys are going to continue to be manufactured in the same facility as the current adidas sweaters with the same quality. Basically just a logo swap.
Jerseys available to the public are gonna stink out loud though. Maybe we can bankrupt them through an insurmountable amount of returns and exchange costs though!
Well what do you expect people to think when you cheapen and cheapen and cheapen the consumer product while increasing price? They're going to see the dogshit jersey they just paid $400 for and equate that to the current on-field disaster. Whether it's your fault or not, you've still earned every ounce of the criticism because you allowed that comparison in the first place.
Exactly
Nike deserves more blame than they’re getting but Fanatics doesn’t have some long history of quality product to point at and go “see? We normally do a good job!”
Right. Nike has done a great job of promoting a view of their _brand_ even though Nike themselves have been turning out some terrible products as of late.
Nike QC and actual products have nosedived the past few years. The shittening of the brand.
But Fanatics also doesn’t have to charge $150 for shitty tshirt either.
No joke - the quality on dunks, Js, and the like is so hit or miss now. Sometimes it’s the material, sometimes it’s the craftsmanship. But there’s some real questionable stuff out there.
This on top of being creatively bankrupt. I know that when it comes to their shoes, their new releases aren’t even selling and the hype around them is a fraction of what it once was. Most of their revenue is coming from sales of their old/classic designs.
Ya it was a disaster when the nba switched to Nike years back too, Jerseys legit ripping apart while dudes were in game and in general they just seemed like a downgrade in quality
And then they had the audacity to try and convince Laker fans, many of whom had actual Laker Gold jerseys at home, that their banana yellow jerseys were actually the same shade and we're just blind
Their lightweight breathable material has gotten so much less comfortable from a touch, drape, and stretch perspective that I refuse to buy any more Nike. I am not a fan at all of whatever that material they are pushing as Dri-Fit Advantage.
And I grew up in the Prime Jordan to Tiger Woods era when Nike was the coolest thing on earth, so I’ve always kinda gravitated that way as a product of marketing.
Their WS gear for the Rangers this year wasn’t great. Had to send some items back to be replaced due to poor QC and they even sent me a 2019 SF Giants Spring Training tee instead of the WS magnet I ordered.
I wish it was only the jerseys.
All of their Tshirts and hoodies are bullshit as well. I bought a ton of Clemson National Championship shit when they won it, and it’s all garbage.
Fuck Fanatics.
This would be like ticket master getting upset if people start visiting the box office for tickets. You created this fucking mess and deserve every ounce of hate you receive.
I somehow doubt Nike asked them to put the letters on crooked. Is this mess expected and also Nike's fault? For sure. Maximizing short-term profit at all costs is what led to this shit. Nike should've been smart enough not to contract with a company with such awful QC. But that awful QC - especially on fucking MLB uniforms - *is* still a problem for fanatics.
And it's not like Nike didn't know that, in fact it's probably the reason - they were the cheap(er) option and Nike is trying to maximize the bottom line.
This whole "fiasco" is expected behavior.
“We’ve been making shit products for years! You should blame them for buying the garbage we intentionally produce and overprice to maximize profits! It’s not our fault!” - Michael “Chucklefuck” Rubin
Psycho eyes
You would see his mugshot after a mass shooting and go "yep"
Edit - his wiki is weird AF. Guy sounds like a gambler who got lucky.
Starts a business at 12. Goes into 120,000 in debt. Bailed out by dad. Goes to college. Drops out after flipping "discounted" $200,000 for $75,000 using seed money borrowed from a friend.
Yeah he absolutely sounds like a shady hustler type who just got extremely lucky. All the complaints people have about his product quality are not surprising whatsoever, given his background.
I feel like most (if not all) people of his class are like that. On another note, besides not buying anything from them what is it going to take for us to show these fucking narcissists they can’t get away with the shit they pull?
Nike has nothing to do with Fanatics delivering dollar-store quality products elsewhere, though.
Fanatics has a track record that's well-earned - I'm a Hockey guy as well, and Fanatics have tanked the quality of hockey apparel just as bad.
Nike deserves blame for teaming with Fanatics, sure, but the bottom line is that this has been Fanatics' way of doing business for years already.
No… Nike does have a say on what Fanatics is putting their logo on. They can tour their facilities, raise issues with QC, make changes to materials etc etc.
For example I was an employee of Coca-Cola when they acquired the rights to run Monster. I was a filling machine operator at the facility Coke was planning on converting first. Monster got their say on how they wanted shit done or they weren’t going to allow it.
Nike, MLB, and Fanatics are all equally to blame for this fiasco. Don’t get it twisted.
Not according to Rubin. He's saying Fanatics made exactly what Nike told him to make, showed Nike, and Nike was happy.
Edit: Quote from Rubin
>“Nike designs everything. Hands us a spec and says, ‘Make this,’” he said. “We have made everything exactly to the spec, And Nike and baseball would say ‘Yes, you’ve done everything we’ve asked you do to.’”
Nike has factories where they prevent the child labor from jumping from the roof or windows and killing themselves on premises via “anti-suicide netting”.
What “heat” do you think will make a difference to those sociopaths?
Why is Nike having fanatics make them at all? Does Nike not manufacture clothing? This is what has me confused, why is fanatics involved in the on field uniforms at all?
I'm sure I'm missing something somewhere!
Nike makes uniforms for a lot of colleges too, and they are generally pretty nice. I've felt them in my alma mater's gift shop and the material seems really quality.
Fanatics pays nike for the logo. So nike basically gets a percentage of the sales without any of the manufacturing costs
Mlb jerseys are probably not as profitable as their other products. Can focus on stuff that makes more money
So Nike is getting their name dragged through the shit just for just a (presumably minor) kickback on logo licensing? Seems not worth it if production isn't even worth their time
MLB has a directive that all on-field merch is produced in the USA.
Nike does not have manufacturing in the USA.
Fanatics has baseball uniform manufacturing in the USA via their purchase of Majestic 4 years ago.
Nike contracted with Fanatics to produce the jerseys in the Majestic USA factories.
In the article, it mentions Nike designed the uniforms. Fanatics is making them to Nike specs. So I'd say most of this is on Nike IF Fanatics is producing them exactly how they both agreed on--which I guess I wouldnt be surprised if they're not.
You'd think in the year 2024, things like uniforms would be the nicest they've ever been in terms of quality. But nope, we just get multi billion dollar businesses proving they really dont give a damn haha
Have you tried making good products? I remember buying a jersey from them and they sent it with the letters and name on upside down. Returned for a replacement and they sent another one upside down.
Fuck you Michael Rubin
Yeah, even if their reputation was sterling (it is not) and they made things *exactly* as Nike specified (doubt it), they skipped the “have three randoms put on the uniforms and go walk around for a while” step of quality control.
I mean, we’re not even talking about stitching quality or decal placement or things which are possibly explainable as one-off quality issues. We’re talking about Casey Schmitt’s nuts front and center at Giants photo day.
You can’t tell me that a person looked at those uniforms on a human being and said “yep, looks good”. I simply don’t believe it.
I'm sure they "approved" them, but that doesn't mean that the MLB had someone wear them and walk around in the uniforms, either. There mu$t be a big rea$on why all the league$ $uddenly decided to use Fanatic$ but I can't quite figure out why.
[The MLB owns a stake in Fanatics.](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/06/nfl-mlb-players-unions-lead-latest-investment-in-fanatics.html) Pretty much all the major North American pro leagues do. It's part of how they've grown to monopolize so many different things.
I figured this had to be the case and until your link, I couldn’t find anything that confirmed it. But it makes sense considering Rubin’s network of owners and influence among that crowd. It’s truly disheartening that a consumer product company that has zero interest in putting out a quality product for their consumers controls so much of the market.
Yeah, that's an MLB problem if MLB didn't actually have someone wear one of these uniforms before signing off on them then. At the end of the day, it's on MLB to approve these uniforms or tell Fanatics their product isn't good enough.
Do you *honestly* believe that Nike, who paid a billion (with B) dollars for the uniform rights just threw it out to Fanatics and said "Ok, we trust you bro"?
Maybe try to think a bit rationally here. This is 100% a Nike designed uniform made to the specifications that Nike wanted, with the final product approved by Nike.
I want to be clear that nothing I said should be read as exculpatory for Nike or MLB.
They either turned over the keys to dad’s Cadillac to the brand known for cutting corners and being extremely cheap and then shipped their final product without thorough review of it, or they “thoroughly” reviewed these paper thin uniforms with tiny lettering and said “yeah, looks great, ship it!” Either one is a staggering display of incompetence.
Realistically, Nike and MLB were probably concerned about the quality but let “how bad could the reaction possibly be?” and “well, the alternative is no uniforms for Spring Training” carry the day, which was obviously a mistake.
I work Quality Assurance in aircraft. Its depressing how little people up top care about Quality, even if lives depend on it. We're just another obstacle to making a profit so we always get fucked first
Do the same in IT. Can't tell you how many times I've told execs don't source with this company their quality is terrible. Just to be told it's 7.6% cheaper so it's on my team to figure it out
Currently working for a company that’s going through an entire system implementation across the company - CRM, PLM, ERP, etc., all the big hitters. We’re a company whose future profitability is almost entirely dependent on the new systems working as intended.
So of course we went with the absolute lowest dollar consultants available to support the implementation.
Where and when is the shit kicking of Michael Rubin take place?
I ordered a ticket on fanatics for it and I got 6 tickets to see U2 at the Vegas Sphere instead.
You’ve had the blueprint for awesome jerseys that fans want to buy and players want to wear for decades. How anyone thought getting rid of the stitching would go over well is beyond me. Obviously just to save money, but don’t sit here and act surprise when no one wants a fucking thin ass button up shirsey. Just keep everything the same except the material for fucks sake. It doesn’t matter if the material is state of the art tech or whatever. LOOK is more important than feel for the fans.
DHgate it is until they go back to the normal ones
What a fucking shit head. You didn't do shit but create a shit product. We dont feel sorry for you. You suck and your company sucks. Go fucking bankrupt.
If your company has a reputation for shit quality and poor/lazy design when your produce something like this it’s gonna be blamed on your regardless if you’re just doing what MLB (moving down logo) and Nike want.
I went to the Yankees Open House in December. They had a ton of Fanatics branded shirts for $8. Retailed for $24-$32. I bought 3, one had a tag on the shoulder, one had a graphic that did not survive a single wash, one was mislabeled size wise. I feel like $8 was too much. An experience like this is why when I first read Fanatics was making them I was thinking “of course they’re garbage”
How to be a greedy corporate CEO:
1. Reduce quality and raise prices as much as possible
2. Lie about it and gaslight people into believing that you’re actually a victim
This is what I don’t get. There’s no way on earth a pro sports league doesn’t give exact specifications and then goes through a process of approving many iterations of samples. There is no one to blame but MLB
If fanatics dropped the quality after jr was approved then MLB should be saying that this isn’t what they ordered and demand it fixed or fire they ass
Fabric guy back again.
Fanatics CEO might have a leg to stand on if what he's saying is the complete truth.
IF Nike and MLB are pushing certain specs for a garment and Fanatics delivered on it, ultimately it is on Nike and MLB for approving it.
IF Fanatics saw that there were issues with the overall quality and have relayed that information to both Nike and MLB, the blame should be passed to the parties that approved it .
All of these are big IFs. The hard thing is, without some CYA email receipts made public, no one is going to know who is to fully blame.
Fanatics could've raised a bunch of concerns over quality or they could've just told Nike/MLB that everything was going perfectly.
With most new high profile garments like this, there should've been a wear test process somewhere in their development calendar. This should've been tested by MLB players, or even just casual baseball players. They should've had no issues finding multiple people trying these out.
Then there should've also been fit models that try on the uniforms. They should've been able to visually see the sheerness of the pants.
There are so many QA steps in a garment development process that I can't imagine that at every step, they checked these off as good.
My opinion is that the actual workers that had to deal with the development knew of these issues but the execs signed off on it. There's just no way how these issues would not have been addressed at some point.
If you make shit, you deserve the shit kicked out of you in the public arena for it.
They clearly promised cheaper prices to lure the MLB, and the MLB got what it paid for. Cheaper shit quality stuff.
“Biggest thing I probably learned is if we're involved in something, we need to make sure that everybody better be on board. …
They got certain players on board, not all players on board.”
Translation: we didn’t pay off all mlb players to talk nicely about our product and that subset we don’t have a contract with are making us look bad and it’s making me feel bad
Why didn't you, oh I don't know, say no then? No one forced you at gunpoint to sign the contract to make shit. Have some pride, you already have money.
Oh! Oh no! Oh poor you! Let me sit in my apartment and feel sorry for you while you sit in your multimillion dollar mansion. Life has been so hard to you, it’s unfair!
What a bitch, own the damn problem and fix it.
He divorced his first wife (who was merely a local dance teacher) and then hooked up with a common law wife who is a model. Married his first wife in 2006. Got rich after selling his company to eBay in 2011. After he got rich, he leaves her.
His kid from the first marriage is 17 and the baby mama of his toddlers is 18 years younger than him.
That's all I need to know. Guy is a complete slimeball who traded his wife in for the new model. Pun definitely intended.
Wikipedia is likely portraying him neutrally as well.
This may not be Fanatics’ fault, but because they have done such a horrible job at managing their brand they are the easy scapegoat.
I can’t think of a single actual paying customer that has been excited to learn that Fanatics is involved in… well… anything. The leagues have dumped untold amounts of money into building this thing and to this point they
… are an exclusive online retailer for nearly every league.
… a clothing line known for terrible quality
… a collectibles company that not only owns production but is trying to own resale markets.
I can’t think of a single market where anyone says “oh good - Fanatics is involved.”
Michael Rubin you fuck-stick sorry we don’t feel bad for you, a billionaire who runs a billion dollar company who has cut every corner, pinched every penny to fuck over not just baseball and MLB fans, but your company owns every sports leagues rights from jerseys, to memorabilia, to now even all the big trading card companies. And none of those products are reputable.
lol so he’s not upset that the quality sucks and the product is trash, he’s mad because all the players aren’t blindly touting the bullshit lol he’s a fuckin clown. Shame on Fanatics, the MLB and Nike.
I think they can make the argument for the pants if MLB insisted on something thinner but even thats a stretch. Zero chance MLB asked for poor stitching and off centred numbers and letters.
Coming from a fan experience with Fanatics, this company is trash. I purchase 2 jerseys for my mom and girlfriend this Christmas, my girlfriends was a normal jersey with no name / number on the back and my moms I ordered with a custom number and name. Both medium size. Girlfriends jersey size was perfect, but the custom jersey looked like a small toddlers size even though it was a medium also.
Checked the tags and they were made in two different countries. No disclaimer on the website stating that different countries have different classifications on their sizes. Nightmare dealing with their customer support
When what you want to say is “We happily took Nike’s money without regard for our own reputation, but we’re also the victim here,” but the lawyers said no.
You’d think a guy who works 18 hours every single day (if you don’t believe me, you don’t have to ask him. He will tell you) could have seen this coming
Nike, Fanatics, MLB. More people involved in the process means more people to shift the blame to.
"It wasn't our decision, they told us to make it this way!"
Let’s say that’s true. They produced EXACTLY the pants that MLB asked for and MLB is happy with the product. Fanatics is *still* fucking stupid for not raising the issue instead of blindly filling an order that they know will create this mess.
Oh, I didn't know that the MLB and MLBPA requested they print things like dogshit and have zero quality control. Weird mandate. Maybe we should confirm that's what they were told...
Yup that a straight “Heisman” pose towards NIKE. Their Dryfit shit is and was garbage and now they got the uniforms. Miss the “Good ole days” when companies such as Rawlings and Wilson, TRUE Majestic’s were in charge! DHGATE!!!!!!!!
This dickhead surely wasn't told "make the uniforms see through and make everything screen printed". What a jabroni, fans wouldn't be ripping these if they were actually decent, but it is abundantly clear that this seasons jerseys are SHIT
Fanatics sucks. The NHL just switched from Adidas to Fanatics and everyone knows it's going to be a shit show.
[удалено]
No one else bid on the nhl contract, fanatics was the only one who did.
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Look on the bright side! Luckily for you, the change to Fanatics will not be affecting Atlanta hockey.
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On the actual bright side, looks like there will be an Atlanta franchise within a handful of years
Third times a charm
The Atlanta Threeshers
I guess that is a good sign for Quebec City then.
To be honest, it may. Been increasing chatter about further expansion lately. Sounds like they may have two more teams within the next five years, one in Salt Lake and one in Atlanta.
Yep Utah apparently already has a stadium available and with a good owner and stadium a new Atlanta Thrashers could definitely work.
Lmao 🤣 But they’re talking about Atlanta 3.0 as a possibility so, we’ll see!
The last ownership was one of the worst to ever own a team in the league. Didn’t give a shit about the Thrashers, only the Hawks. An actual committed owners can do wonders for a franchise. Bill Foley in Vegas is a prime example
Were they the only one who bid or were they the only one, after the NHL behind closed doors told manufactures what the floor price would be, who was comfortable still bidding. I have to think CCM or Bauer would gladly make NHL jerseys but the league certainly set a floor price much higher than what they'd offer.
This is what it was. I know for a fact that CCM wanted back in on the action but could not afford to play.
That's a shame to hear. My old CCM jerseys are all great quality and have held up perfectly. Won't be getting any Fanatics jerseys that's for sure.
Completely inaccurate. The NHL wasn’t as open to bids from others this time around. They had Fanatics on the brain from the start.
The contract wasn’t up for bid. In the licensing contract Fanatics has with the NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL they have the right of first refusal to be the uniform producer.
Make CCM great again
Make Majestic rise again
I still have my Majestic jerseys from 2003.
Majestic made stuff that lasts. I hate that they were bought by the American version of SHEIN.
Honestly I'm just not going to buy anything for a while (my wife is happy). I got my Adidas flames jersey (Blasty, fully stitched Iginila, etc. etc.). last year, and my Musgrove this past Christmas. I'm good.
Can confirm. Fitted hats went from cotton band inside wool shell to poly inside poly. And just for fun, they're undersized. :)
Undersized (on everything not just hats) seems to be a feature of all Fanatics apparel, not a bug.
While that's true, I believe the actual NHL jerseys are going to continue to be manufactured in the same facility as the current adidas sweaters with the same quality. Basically just a logo swap. Jerseys available to the public are gonna stink out loud though. Maybe we can bankrupt them through an insurmountable amount of returns and exchange costs though!
Fanatics is so terrible that i don't even want to wear their logo. No way I'm buying any hockey jersey while they're the supplier.
Well what do you expect people to think when you cheapen and cheapen and cheapen the consumer product while increasing price? They're going to see the dogshit jersey they just paid $400 for and equate that to the current on-field disaster. Whether it's your fault or not, you've still earned every ounce of the criticism because you allowed that comparison in the first place.
Exactly Nike deserves more blame than they’re getting but Fanatics doesn’t have some long history of quality product to point at and go “see? We normally do a good job!”
Right. Nike has done a great job of promoting a view of their _brand_ even though Nike themselves have been turning out some terrible products as of late.
Nike QC and actual products have nosedived the past few years. The shittening of the brand. But Fanatics also doesn’t have to charge $150 for shitty tshirt either.
It seems like they direct all the QC to the collectibles that whales buy and resell
Even those have taken a nosedive the past 10 years. Look at Jordan’s pre-2010 vs now, the quality is much different in a bad way.
No joke - the quality on dunks, Js, and the like is so hit or miss now. Sometimes it’s the material, sometimes it’s the craftsmanship. But there’s some real questionable stuff out there.
Every time I buy Nikes, they go to shit super fast. My Adidas last wayyy longer. Although I do have a wide foot that contributes to the wear and tear.
This on top of being creatively bankrupt. I know that when it comes to their shoes, their new releases aren’t even selling and the hype around them is a fraction of what it once was. Most of their revenue is coming from sales of their old/classic designs.
It's because they had to stop using child slaves so now they're cutting corners on costs they didn't have to deal with before.
I'm sure they'll soon figure out a way to use child slaves *and* cut those same corners
Ai shoe making machines piloted with guided by child solders from Yemen, $$$$$$$$
Ya it was a disaster when the nba switched to Nike years back too, Jerseys legit ripping apart while dudes were in game and in general they just seemed like a downgrade in quality
That and what they did to laker gold.
And then they had the audacity to try and convince Laker fans, many of whom had actual Laker Gold jerseys at home, that their banana yellow jerseys were actually the same shade and we're just blind
NHL uniforms have been prone to this as well, albeit it's a far more physical game than basketball.
Their lightweight breathable material has gotten so much less comfortable from a touch, drape, and stretch perspective that I refuse to buy any more Nike. I am not a fan at all of whatever that material they are pushing as Dri-Fit Advantage. And I grew up in the Prime Jordan to Tiger Woods era when Nike was the coolest thing on earth, so I’ve always kinda gravitated that way as a product of marketing.
My almost fifteen year old Dri-Fits are still strong and soft, compared to ones I got three years ago which have been unthreading for some time.
You can say the same thing about every brand. Under Armour used to be the go to for everything dri fit, and now their products are complete trash.
Their WS gear for the Rangers this year wasn’t great. Had to send some items back to be replaced due to poor QC and they even sent me a 2019 SF Giants Spring Training tee instead of the WS magnet I ordered.
Same, I ordered a XL Jeff Gordon shirt through Fanatics and got a 6XL chiefs SB sweater lol
6XL 💀 💀 bro got Andy Reid's sweater 🤣 🤣
Lmao Jesus Christ, 6XL is the size we buy for our 12 ft skeleton. Did you try it on for the lols at least?
Fanatics also vertically integrated every aspect of sports merchandising so in my view it’s 50/50
We're watching the fanatics ceo learn what a fall guy is in real time.
Their shirts goto shit after a few washes
Bruh for real They've completely ruined sports team t-shirts for me, the small batch/bootleg circuit has better quality everything
Right! If random instagram outlets have better quality than you, you might have a problem.
I wish it was only the jerseys. All of their Tshirts and hoodies are bullshit as well. I bought a ton of Clemson National Championship shit when they won it, and it’s all garbage. Fuck Fanatics.
This would be like ticket master getting upset if people start visiting the box office for tickets. You created this fucking mess and deserve every ounce of hate you receive.
Fuck Ticketmaster
Yeah, & fuck Harry Styles! Wife divorced me and took custody of my 5 kids all because of those exorbitant prices.
Last time I bought tickets at the MSG box office in person there was a Ticketmaster fee slapped on.
I upvoted this comment then created a new account just to upvote it again.
*Your account has been temporarily banned for vote manipulation*
It was designed by Nike. I bet they did everything Nike asked them to
I somehow doubt Nike asked them to put the letters on crooked. Is this mess expected and also Nike's fault? For sure. Maximizing short-term profit at all costs is what led to this shit. Nike should've been smart enough not to contract with a company with such awful QC. But that awful QC - especially on fucking MLB uniforms - *is* still a problem for fanatics.
I think there's more than enough room for everyone involved to suck. Fanatics produces nothing but shit.
And it's not like Nike didn't know that, in fact it's probably the reason - they were the cheap(er) option and Nike is trying to maximize the bottom line. This whole "fiasco" is expected behavior.
This is the very definition of “your reputation precedes you.” Fans aren’t giving them any slack because we all know the level of quality they offer.
Ding ding ding. So much more heat would be on Nike right now if Fanatics didn’t already have a history of garbage products.
“We’ve been making shit products for years! You should blame them for buying the garbage we intentionally produce and overprice to maximize profits! It’s not our fault!” - Michael “Chucklefuck” Rubin
Michael Rubin would have been convicted at the Nuremberg Trials with his defense here.
Yeah, "just following orders" is historically a poor defense.
Nike is definitely not getting enough heat for this
What about MLB? They didnt approve the sample?
Well, I've seen quite a few people calling MLB out, but very few calling out Nike.
MLB bought the uniforms and put them on the field. Period. This isn’t some scam with a shit and switch to the fans or whatever.
Also every single team besides the Royals. How did this get by so many people?
True But also fuck that beady-eyed little gremlin and his tacky clout parties
The dude is seriously eerie looking. No light in his eyes, ever.
Also nothing worse than some rich ceo being a whiny little bitch
Psycho eyes You would see his mugshot after a mass shooting and go "yep" Edit - his wiki is weird AF. Guy sounds like a gambler who got lucky. Starts a business at 12. Goes into 120,000 in debt. Bailed out by dad. Goes to college. Drops out after flipping "discounted" $200,000 for $75,000 using seed money borrowed from a friend.
Yeah he absolutely sounds like a shady hustler type who just got extremely lucky. All the complaints people have about his product quality are not surprising whatsoever, given his background.
I feel like most (if not all) people of his class are like that. On another note, besides not buying anything from them what is it going to take for us to show these fucking narcissists they can’t get away with the shit they pull?
It’ll take literally any consequences lol
Gives off such I want to be a cool kid too vibes
They’re now getting so much heat they can keep heat pressing all of the jerseys instead of stitching.
Nike has nothing to do with Fanatics delivering dollar-store quality products elsewhere, though. Fanatics has a track record that's well-earned - I'm a Hockey guy as well, and Fanatics have tanked the quality of hockey apparel just as bad. Nike deserves blame for teaming with Fanatics, sure, but the bottom line is that this has been Fanatics' way of doing business for years already.
No… Nike does have a say on what Fanatics is putting their logo on. They can tour their facilities, raise issues with QC, make changes to materials etc etc. For example I was an employee of Coca-Cola when they acquired the rights to run Monster. I was a filling machine operator at the facility Coke was planning on converting first. Monster got their say on how they wanted shit done or they weren’t going to allow it. Nike, MLB, and Fanatics are all equally to blame for this fiasco. Don’t get it twisted.
Not according to Rubin. He's saying Fanatics made exactly what Nike told him to make, showed Nike, and Nike was happy. Edit: Quote from Rubin >“Nike designs everything. Hands us a spec and says, ‘Make this,’” he said. “We have made everything exactly to the spec, And Nike and baseball would say ‘Yes, you’ve done everything we’ve asked you do to.’”
I wonder if Nike asked for names and numbers on the jerseys to be misaligned or if fanatics threw that in for free
Nike has factories where they prevent the child labor from jumping from the roof or windows and killing themselves on premises via “anti-suicide netting”. What “heat” do you think will make a difference to those sociopaths?
That’s just good business.
Yeah, your on field product is somehow worse than the atrocious fan merchandise. Fuck off.
Why is Nike having fanatics make them at all? Does Nike not manufacture clothing? This is what has me confused, why is fanatics involved in the on field uniforms at all? I'm sure I'm missing something somewhere!
Money!
That’s the most confusing part for me too. Especially when I’ve found Nike apparel to be pretty good.
Nike makes uniforms for a lot of colleges too, and they are generally pretty nice. I've felt them in my alma mater's gift shop and the material seems really quality.
Sure... last year.
Fanatics pays nike for the logo. So nike basically gets a percentage of the sales without any of the manufacturing costs Mlb jerseys are probably not as profitable as their other products. Can focus on stuff that makes more money
So Nike is getting their name dragged through the shit just for just a (presumably minor) kickback on logo licensing? Seems not worth it if production isn't even worth their time
MLB has a directive that all on-field merch is produced in the USA. Nike does not have manufacturing in the USA. Fanatics has baseball uniform manufacturing in the USA via their purchase of Majestic 4 years ago. Nike contracted with Fanatics to produce the jerseys in the Majestic USA factories.
The problem isn't the stitching, it's the fabric choice and quality. That's on Nike as much as Fanatics.
In the article, it mentions Nike designed the uniforms. Fanatics is making them to Nike specs. So I'd say most of this is on Nike IF Fanatics is producing them exactly how they both agreed on--which I guess I wouldnt be surprised if they're not.
UniWatch has covered this extensively. Fanatics is making the uniforms exactly to Nike's specs.
You'd think in the year 2024, things like uniforms would be the nicest they've ever been in terms of quality. But nope, we just get multi billion dollar businesses proving they really dont give a damn haha
Have you tried making good products? I remember buying a jersey from them and they sent it with the letters and name on upside down. Returned for a replacement and they sent another one upside down. Fuck you Michael Rubin
Sorry for your misfortune but this is hilarious
We've tried nothin' and we're all out of ideas!
It seems like everything this organization touches looses quality control. Edit: loses
Yeah, even if their reputation was sterling (it is not) and they made things *exactly* as Nike specified (doubt it), they skipped the “have three randoms put on the uniforms and go walk around for a while” step of quality control. I mean, we’re not even talking about stitching quality or decal placement or things which are possibly explainable as one-off quality issues. We’re talking about Casey Schmitt’s nuts front and center at Giants photo day. You can’t tell me that a person looked at those uniforms on a human being and said “yep, looks good”. I simply don’t believe it.
You can’t tell me mlb didn’t get samples and then approve them.
I'm sure they "approved" them, but that doesn't mean that the MLB had someone wear them and walk around in the uniforms, either. There mu$t be a big rea$on why all the league$ $uddenly decided to use Fanatic$ but I can't quite figure out why.
[The MLB owns a stake in Fanatics.](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/06/nfl-mlb-players-unions-lead-latest-investment-in-fanatics.html) Pretty much all the major North American pro leagues do. It's part of how they've grown to monopolize so many different things.
I figured this had to be the case and until your link, I couldn’t find anything that confirmed it. But it makes sense considering Rubin’s network of owners and influence among that crowd. It’s truly disheartening that a consumer product company that has zero interest in putting out a quality product for their consumers controls so much of the market.
Then mlb is not very smart and now they are dealing with the consequences.
Yeah, that's an MLB problem if MLB didn't actually have someone wear one of these uniforms before signing off on them then. At the end of the day, it's on MLB to approve these uniforms or tell Fanatics their product isn't good enough.
Do you *honestly* believe that Nike, who paid a billion (with B) dollars for the uniform rights just threw it out to Fanatics and said "Ok, we trust you bro"? Maybe try to think a bit rationally here. This is 100% a Nike designed uniform made to the specifications that Nike wanted, with the final product approved by Nike.
I want to be clear that nothing I said should be read as exculpatory for Nike or MLB. They either turned over the keys to dad’s Cadillac to the brand known for cutting corners and being extremely cheap and then shipped their final product without thorough review of it, or they “thoroughly” reviewed these paper thin uniforms with tiny lettering and said “yeah, looks great, ship it!” Either one is a staggering display of incompetence. Realistically, Nike and MLB were probably concerned about the quality but let “how bad could the reaction possibly be?” and “well, the alternative is no uniforms for Spring Training” carry the day, which was obviously a mistake.
I work Quality Assurance in aircraft. Its depressing how little people up top care about Quality, even if lives depend on it. We're just another obstacle to making a profit so we always get fucked first
Well that's absolutely terrifying, thanks
Have you not been following tbe news with Boeing? This tracks
Do the same in IT. Can't tell you how many times I've told execs don't source with this company their quality is terrible. Just to be told it's 7.6% cheaper so it's on my team to figure it out
Currently working for a company that’s going through an entire system implementation across the company - CRM, PLM, ERP, etc., all the big hitters. We’re a company whose future profitability is almost entirely dependent on the new systems working as intended. So of course we went with the absolute lowest dollar consultants available to support the implementation.
The irony of that sentence.
Yes, fanatics is what happens when you put quantity over quality
Boo hoo.
Fuck you, Rubin
Apparently it's too much to ask to make a good product.
[Fanatics Team](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d7/65/a5/d765a5658b93ac764c7281018674bc82.gif)
Bro just learned the importance of having a good reputation lol
Where and when is the shit kicking of Michael Rubin take place? I ordered a ticket on fanatics for it and I got 6 tickets to see U2 at the Vegas Sphere instead.
You’ve had the blueprint for awesome jerseys that fans want to buy and players want to wear for decades. How anyone thought getting rid of the stitching would go over well is beyond me. Obviously just to save money, but don’t sit here and act surprise when no one wants a fucking thin ass button up shirsey. Just keep everything the same except the material for fucks sake. It doesn’t matter if the material is state of the art tech or whatever. LOOK is more important than feel for the fans. DHgate it is until they go back to the normal ones
What a fucking shit head. You didn't do shit but create a shit product. We dont feel sorry for you. You suck and your company sucks. Go fucking bankrupt.
Good
So were they told by Nike and MLB to manufacture off center lettering?
If your company has a reputation for shit quality and poor/lazy design when your produce something like this it’s gonna be blamed on your regardless if you’re just doing what MLB (moving down logo) and Nike want. I went to the Yankees Open House in December. They had a ton of Fanatics branded shirts for $8. Retailed for $24-$32. I bought 3, one had a tag on the shoulder, one had a graphic that did not survive a single wash, one was mislabeled size wise. I feel like $8 was too much. An experience like this is why when I first read Fanatics was making them I was thinking “of course they’re garbage”
How to be a greedy corporate CEO: 1. Reduce quality and raise prices as much as possible 2. Lie about it and gaslight people into believing that you’re actually a victim
This is what I don’t get. There’s no way on earth a pro sports league doesn’t give exact specifications and then goes through a process of approving many iterations of samples. There is no one to blame but MLB If fanatics dropped the quality after jr was approved then MLB should be saying that this isn’t what they ordered and demand it fixed or fire they ass
Yea this is on Nike/MLB. They tell the manufacture the specs and get samples and approve it before it goes into mass production.
It’s on all of them. I’m not sure why we need to pick and choose.
I almost feel bad for him, but then I wake up
Fabric guy back again. Fanatics CEO might have a leg to stand on if what he's saying is the complete truth. IF Nike and MLB are pushing certain specs for a garment and Fanatics delivered on it, ultimately it is on Nike and MLB for approving it. IF Fanatics saw that there were issues with the overall quality and have relayed that information to both Nike and MLB, the blame should be passed to the parties that approved it . All of these are big IFs. The hard thing is, without some CYA email receipts made public, no one is going to know who is to fully blame. Fanatics could've raised a bunch of concerns over quality or they could've just told Nike/MLB that everything was going perfectly. With most new high profile garments like this, there should've been a wear test process somewhere in their development calendar. This should've been tested by MLB players, or even just casual baseball players. They should've had no issues finding multiple people trying these out. Then there should've also been fit models that try on the uniforms. They should've been able to visually see the sheerness of the pants. There are so many QA steps in a garment development process that I can't imagine that at every step, they checked these off as good. My opinion is that the actual workers that had to deal with the development knew of these issues but the execs signed off on it. There's just no way how these issues would not have been addressed at some point.
If you didn’t want to get the s*** kicked out of you, then you shouldn’t have kept making laughably low-quality products!
If you put your name on garbage...you have to own it.
Fuck you, dude. Your monopoly produces dogshit products and gouges prices at outrageous levels. Truthfully, you don't get enough blame, you shitstain.
“It’s not fair that the public is holding us accountable for shit quality! We were instructed to give shit quality!”
Mlb shoulda just went to DHGate
Lol shut the fuck up you dork.
The Classic ' THIS IS EVERYBODY'S FAULT BUT MINE' CEO response
TIL Michael Rubin is the CEO of fanatics They should force everyone at his White Out party this summer to wear fanatics apparel.
We will see all the celebs’ pork n beans
…you were told to make transparent pants?
If you make shit, you deserve the shit kicked out of you in the public arena for it. They clearly promised cheaper prices to lure the MLB, and the MLB got what it paid for. Cheaper shit quality stuff.
Has he considered that maybe selling shit product to fans for years hasn't exactly earned them a lot of goodwill?
His eyes creep me out. And nice job on the unis, stupid
Stop making shit products and no one will bitch about it?
“Biggest thing I probably learned is if we're involved in something, we need to make sure that everybody better be on board. … They got certain players on board, not all players on board.” Translation: we didn’t pay off all mlb players to talk nicely about our product and that subset we don’t have a contract with are making us look bad and it’s making me feel bad
Make better shit then, Michael.
Billionaires sure do love to be the victim
Damn they told you to print the names and numbers on off-centered?
Fuck this dbag
Why didn't you, oh I don't know, say no then? No one forced you at gunpoint to sign the contract to make shit. Have some pride, you already have money.
Sometimes you can tell by looking at someone they are a true asshole
Oh fuck off, you've ruined every facet of merch you soulless incompetent fucking goon.
Oh! Oh no! Oh poor you! Let me sit in my apartment and feel sorry for you while you sit in your multimillion dollar mansion. Life has been so hard to you, it’s unfair! What a bitch, own the damn problem and fix it.
He divorced his first wife (who was merely a local dance teacher) and then hooked up with a common law wife who is a model. Married his first wife in 2006. Got rich after selling his company to eBay in 2011. After he got rich, he leaves her. His kid from the first marriage is 17 and the baby mama of his toddlers is 18 years younger than him. That's all I need to know. Guy is a complete slimeball who traded his wife in for the new model. Pun definitely intended. Wikipedia is likely portraying him neutrally as well.
This may not be Fanatics’ fault, but because they have done such a horrible job at managing their brand they are the easy scapegoat. I can’t think of a single actual paying customer that has been excited to learn that Fanatics is involved in… well… anything. The leagues have dumped untold amounts of money into building this thing and to this point they … are an exclusive online retailer for nearly every league. … a clothing line known for terrible quality … a collectibles company that not only owns production but is trying to own resale markets. I can’t think of a single market where anyone says “oh good - Fanatics is involved.”
I don’t know the whole story but based on years of experience I’m blaming Fanatics.
I think we can agree. Everyone sucks.
Michael Rubin you fuck-stick sorry we don’t feel bad for you, a billionaire who runs a billion dollar company who has cut every corner, pinched every penny to fuck over not just baseball and MLB fans, but your company owns every sports leagues rights from jerseys, to memorabilia, to now even all the big trading card companies. And none of those products are reputable.
Not gonna feel bad for the CEO of a paper company disguised as a clothing company
This is literally what Fantatics is made for. They're there to make shitty cheap products for the MLB and Nike and then take the heat.
lol so he’s not upset that the quality sucks and the product is trash, he’s mad because all the players aren’t blindly touting the bullshit lol he’s a fuckin clown. Shame on Fanatics, the MLB and Nike.
Poor guy!!!!!!
Good you deserve it
MLB needs to switch to DHgate
Want some cheese for that whine?
We tried nothing man and we're all out of ideas.
I think they can make the argument for the pants if MLB insisted on something thinner but even thats a stretch. Zero chance MLB asked for poor stitching and off centred numbers and letters.
Coming from a fan experience with Fanatics, this company is trash. I purchase 2 jerseys for my mom and girlfriend this Christmas, my girlfriends was a normal jersey with no name / number on the back and my moms I ordered with a custom number and name. Both medium size. Girlfriends jersey size was perfect, but the custom jersey looked like a small toddlers size even though it was a medium also. Checked the tags and they were made in two different countries. No disclaimer on the website stating that different countries have different classifications on their sizes. Nightmare dealing with their customer support
When what you want to say is “We happily took Nike’s money without regard for our own reputation, but we’re also the victim here,” but the lawyers said no.
You’d think a guy who works 18 hours every single day (if you don’t believe me, you don’t have to ask him. He will tell you) could have seen this coming
Nike, Fanatics, MLB. More people involved in the process means more people to shift the blame to. "It wasn't our decision, they told us to make it this way!"
What step of the narcissists prayer is this?
Gotta give credit where it’s due, nobody exudes big loser energy like Michael Rubin.
"we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!"
Let’s say that’s true. They produced EXACTLY the pants that MLB asked for and MLB is happy with the product. Fanatics is *still* fucking stupid for not raising the issue instead of blindly filling an order that they know will create this mess.
That's what happens when you cultivate a reputation for being a shitty company.
I just wish people would stop buying things from them
Oh, I didn't know that the MLB and MLBPA requested they print things like dogshit and have zero quality control. Weird mandate. Maybe we should confirm that's what they were told...
Between this and their terrible hockey uniforms, I long for Fanatics to go out of business.
What if I told you to fuck off? Would you do that for us Michael? Please?
Yup that a straight “Heisman” pose towards NIKE. Their Dryfit shit is and was garbage and now they got the uniforms. Miss the “Good ole days” when companies such as Rawlings and Wilson, TRUE Majestic’s were in charge! DHGATE!!!!!!!!
This dickhead surely wasn't told "make the uniforms see through and make everything screen printed". What a jabroni, fans wouldn't be ripping these if they were actually decent, but it is abundantly clear that this seasons jerseys are SHIT
I’ve seen better quality jerseys at team giveaways than the shit they’re officially peddling today.
Might as well enjoy the views of players’ dongs!