Fanatics Brings Sports Merch to Japan on Rakuten Ichiba Online Marketplace

Fanatics has launched its first online marketplace in Japan by opening a store on Rakuten Ichiba, operated by global internet services provider, Rakuten Group, to provide access to licensed sports merchandise for fans across Japan. 

Japanese sports fans can access Fanatics’ range of licensed sports merchandise directly through the Fanatics Official Store on Rakuten Ichiba. The store offers more than 10,000 officially licensed products from global leagues and sporting organizations, such as MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and major European and international football teams. 

The Fanatics Official Store on Rakuten Ichiba allows fans to order directly from Fanatics’ U.S. fulfillment centers. This ensures Japanese sports fans can enjoy Fanatics’ assortment of licensed sports merchandise with significantly reduced lead times. Fanatics also plans to expand its range to over 50,000 products.   

“We are always looking for ways to better serve sports fans across Japan, who are renowned for their passion and pride,” says Masanori Kawana, managing director, Fanatics East Asia. “Launching our first marketplace store for fans in Japan on Rakuten Ichiba was therefore a natural fit for us, due to Rakuten’s existing partnerships with a host of major sporting names, such as the NBA, as well as its reputation for excellence as Japan’s leading online marketplace.   

Related:LaLiga Launches Official Online Shop in Partnership with Fanatics

“By partnering with Fanatics in this way, retailers are able to expand into entirely new markets while mitigating a great deal of the risk that would usually come with such a move, leveraging Fanatics’ industry expertise and experience in order to place thousands of licensed sports products – quite literally – at their customers’ fingertips. It has been a pleasure to work with Rakuten so far, and we look forward to building on our collective offering to fans in the months and years to come.”   

“We are delighted to welcome Fanatics, a leading company in licensed sports merchandise, to Rakuten Ichiba – allowing sports fans in Japan to enjoy more-accessible and convenient shopping for internationally licensed products,” says Yui Ono, senior executive officer, general manager, EC consulting department, Rakuten Group.