The Minnesota Wild and Fanatics have joined forces in a new long-term partnership to enhance the retail experience for Wild fans at the Xcel Energy Center. Fanatics, a prominent global digital sports platform and licensed sports merchandise provider, steps in as the official end-to-end retail partner for the team. This collaboration will see Fanatics take over the operations of all physical retail locations at the Xcel Energy Center and manage the online store HockeyLodge.com, aiming to create a seamless shopping experience for Wild enthusiasts through a unified omnichannel approach.
Fanatics had previously powered the Wild’s official e-commerce site as part of its league-wide partnership with the NHL. The expanded agreement now extends to integrating both online and in-arena retail operations, ensuring a consistent shopping experience for fans whether they are browsing online, on mobile devices, or attending games at the Xcel Energy Center.
Carin Anderson, the Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Retail Management for the Minnesota Wild, expressed excitement about the new partnership. She highlighted that fans can look forward to an improved experience both online and at the upgraded Xcel Energy Center store, with a wider variety and increased availability of their favorite team merchandise. As part of the deal, Fanatics will make significant investments in upgrading the retail spaces at the Xcel Energy Center, including stores, kiosks, and other touchpoints, to enhance the shopping experience during games and events.
Fanatics, through its extensive licensed apparel partnership with the NHL, will offer Wild fans an expanded range of high-quality merchandise, including authentic and replica jerseys, fan apparel, and headwear. This season marks the debut of Fanatics as the NHL’s official provider for on-ice uniforms, allowing fans to purchase the same jerseys worn by players during games, which are Fanatics-branded and Made-in-Canada.
In addition to Fanatics-branded products, fans can expect to find apparel, headwear, hard goods, and lifestyle items from renowned brands such as Mitchell & Ness and New Era, as well as local favorites like WinCraft, UNRL, SotaStick, and Levelwear among others.
Ed O’Brien, the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Fanatics, expressed enthusiasm about becoming the official omnichannel retail partner of the Wild. He emphasized the significance of hockey in Minnesota’s culture and reiterated Fanatics’ dedication to providing an exceptional retail experience for fans to celebrate the game and support their team passionately both on game days and beyond.
In recent months, Fanatics has been working on upgrading and renovating The Hockey Lodge, the Wild’s flagship retail location. The store is gearing up to host a grand opening event on September 21 at 11 a.m., marking the introduction of the new line of authentic and replica jerseys to fans in collaboration with the NHL.
With this partnership, the Minnesota Wild becomes the third NHL team for which Fanatics operates both in-venue and e-commerce retail. The team joins other esteemed Minnesota-based sports organizations, including the Timberwolves, Lynx, Vikings, and the University of Minnesota Athletics, in their partnership with Fanatics, showcasing a commitment to enhancing the overall fan experience across various sports platforms.
