A portray hangs simply outdoors Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Manhattan workplace with a message which may as nicely be his motto.
“Let’s F*kin Go,” it reads.
He rocks. He paces. He speaks straight, confidently and with out equivocation. He’s days away from internet hosting the second annual Fanatics Fest at New York Metropolis’s Javits Middle, which kicks off Friday in New York.
And he’s all in.
“That’s my mentality in everything I do and we do as a company,” Rubin stated of the portray. “You just have to go for it.”
Fanatics Fest is a large, three-day sports activities bonanza of fan experiences, celeb meet-and-greets, autograph signings and star-studded panels headlined by the likes of LeBron James, Tom Brady, Victor Wembanyama, Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow.
And Rubin is leaving nothing to probability — simply as he did whereas shepherding Fanatics into a worldwide licensing and merchandising powerhouse that makes and sells the Knicks jersey you’re carrying proper now.
He spent 4 hours reviewing 38 athlete and celeb schedules the night time earlier than to maximise every star’s fan interactions. He’s about to fly to Indianapolis to carry some conferences and attend Recreation 3 of the NBA Finals.
And he plans to depart at halftime so he can get one other five-hour night time’s sleep to do it once more.
As a result of this weekend is about greater than Rubin harnessing his community to construct an excellent greater occasion than final yr’s, which attracted 70,000 followers to Manhattan’s west facet.
(Courtesy of Fanatics)
The second version of Fanatics Fest kicks off Friday on the Javits Middle in Manhattan.
It’s Rubin’s child. It’s Fanatics’ flagship. And there’s nothing else prefer it.
Take Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart: Two months in the past, the Giants traded again into the NFL Draft’s first spherical to pick out Dart as their future franchise QB.
This weekend, Dart shall be on the Javits Middle ground interacting face-to-face with hopeful followers who’re shopping for his No. 6 jersey (from Fanatics) — he’s already an unique Fanatics athlete earlier than having taken an official NFL snap — and praying that Massive Blue has discovered a treatment to its irrelevance.
Perhaps Dart shall be taking pictures hockey pucks within the NHL activation space.
Perhaps he’ll be on the buying and selling card ground, doing breaks and opening packs of playing cards just like the Boston Celtics’ Grant Williams, who landed his personal card final yr and autographed it proper then and there for followers.
It’s not an Instagram reel. It’s actual life.
It’s followers placing Dart’s face to the identify on the again of his jersey. It’s Dart seeing and listening to, first hand, the followers he’ll attempt to win video games for.
The most important distinction between final yr’s inaugural Fanatics Fest and this yr’s is that it’s taking place two months earlier.
Final yr’s kicked off in August, and whereas it was profitable in some ways, it was troublesome for Rubin to draw lively NFL gamers as a result of they had been already in the midst of coaching camp.
Holding it in June resolves that concern. Almost 50 NFL gamers, together with virtually half the league’s beginning quarterbacks, shall be on the Javits Middle this weekend.
However Rubin is the primary individual to confess that the 2024 model of Fanatics Fest was a studying expertise as a lot because it was validation of his imaginative and prescient.
“I had no idea whether it was going to work or not,” Rubin stated. “The first year, we got a lot right. We also screwed a lot of things up. So the ability to kind of go back and just learn from everything we didn’t get right last year and we want to get right this year is pretty exciting.”
The No. 1 correction this yr, Rubin stated, is a cleanup of the autograph and picture course of that led to lengthy traces and normal confusion.
(Courtesy of Fanatics)
This yr’s Fanatics Fest was moved to June to permit higher attendance from NFL stars.
“I think the biggest thing we screwed up was how we had autographs and pictures,” he stated. “We basically had people [buy] VIP passes, and we let you get access into the lines with the VIP pass. That screwed up the entire autograph and photo thing.”
“We went back and completely revamped that this year,” he stated. “That, I think, was a disaster last year. I think that will be good this year. It better be good this year, or there’ll be a disaster here.”
Rubin’s quip about inside penalties comes throughout just like the phrases etched in his portray: It’s humorous, but it surely’s not a joke.
Security-wise, final yr’s Fanatics Fest went off largely with no hitch.
When artist Travis Scott appeared on a panel with Rubin and Michael Strahan and held an impromptu efficiency on stage, nonetheless, some followers stated the crowded rush by way of barricades to the doorways created a probably scary scenario.
“Yeah, anything you do with Travis you have a lot more security,” Rubin stated matter-of-factly.
That was solely a one-off. Nonetheless, nothing has gone unaddressed or unexamined in an effort to enhance this yr’s fan expertise.
Rubin, 52, a self-made billionaire from Philadelphia, is sincere about Fanatics Fest being the final word bodily advertising and marketing engine for his omnipresent model and firm.
He stated on a latest WFAN interview, in truth, that Fanatics misplaced $15 million internet hosting final yr’s Fanatic Fest, and it was nonetheless value it.
He noticed generations of followers’ jaws on the ground whereas taking part within the WWE celebrity entrance. And the ‘Athletes Undercover’ idea was a success, like when former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne was strolling round disguised as Pittsburgh Pirates ace pitcher Paul Skenes.
There may be additionally a greatest dressed fan competitors that sends the winner to large occasions just like the Tremendous Bowl and FIFA World Cup Ultimate. A Payments fan received the competition final yr by dressing like a Buffalo Payments mafia folding desk.
“We saw last year a great grandfather, a grandfather, a dad, and a son, all walking together,” Rubin stated. “We saw a lot of full families with mom, dad, kids. It was an incredible scene.”
Rubin is useless critical about Fanatics Fest being higher this yr, although.
“I’m gonna run Fanatics ’til I die. I love doing this,” he stated. “I’m honored to do what I do. So I’m not apprehensive about something aside from ‘How do we create the best fan experience?’’’
That’s the place the thought for the Fanatics Video games got here from: 50 athletes and celebrities, together with Giants quarterback Russell Wilson, dealing with off in opposition to 50 chosen followers for the prospect to win $2 million in prizes.
The NFL activation has a 40-year sprint. The NBA activation provides followers the prospect to knock down around-the-world jumpers. Dick’s Sporting Items may have a golf simulator. FIFA gives objective scoring. MLB’s checks pitching accuracy.
That’s along with numerous star-studded panels obtainable to all followers on the final admission ticket, a merchandise village 3 times massive than final yr’s with unique attire drops, 25% extra interest store cubicles to create the largest buying and selling card present in New York, reside recordings of James’ and Kevin Hart’s podcasts and extra.
A 3-day normal admission cross — the most well-liked — prices $65 for teenagers and $150 for adults. Day by day passes are $60 for adults and $30 per child on Friday and Saturday, which drops to $20 for teenagers on Sunday. VIP passes are offered out. {Photograph} and autograph alternatives have to be bought individually.
An instance of what unique merchandise will get dropped? Mitchell & Ness introduced that it has created an Eli Manning 2003 Ole Miss Legacy jersey that shall be obtainable for buy first at Fanatics Fest this weekend.
Manning shall be there in individual, and so will the Giants’ new nice hope from Ole Miss: Dart. He’ll in all probability find yourself operating into his favourite athlete from his childhood, as nicely — No. 2.
“My favorite athlete growing up was Derek Jeter,” Dart stated. “I have a few jerseys of his from growing up, and I was able to get a signed ball from him after my senior season before I got drafted.”
Given all that Fanatics Fest has to supply, it’s pure to ask: when is that this occasion coming to different cities or nations? Is that this going to stay a every year conference, or is the demand so excessive — with greater than 100,000 followers anticipated this yr — that Rubin will inevitably broaden it?
Rubin admits he has acquired a ton of gives to carry Fanatics Fest elsewhere.
“After we did the first Fanatics Fest, every governor, countries, everyone in the world called and said, ‘How do we get this?’” Rubin stated. “The amount of people trying to steal Fanatics Fest from New York City, I had at least 10 governors call me and say, ‘Here’s why you should do this to my state.’”
“I had prime ministers, I had the biggest people in the world call me and say, ‘I want this in my country. How do I get it?’” he stated. “And I think New York was really at risk of losing Fanatics Fest, and the CEO who took over [at the Javits Center], Joyce Leveston, has been amazing. She’s like ‘I want this, this is really important to me.’”
For now, at the least Rubin is concentrated on getting New York proper.
