The global brand licensing industry reached $356.5bn in 2023, up 4.6% from 2022, according to Licensing International. Notably, sports licensing contributed $39.5bn, a 5.6% increase, now accounting for 11% of the global market and surpassing fashion as the fourth-largest licensing category.
At Brand Licensing Europe, Europe’s leading trade show for licensing and brand extension, we’ve never doubted the growth potential of sports licensing and the opportunities it offers brands, retailers and manufacturers.
Introducing the Sports Zone
In 2018, we launched a standalone Sports Zone at BLE to boost brand discoverability. It has since expanded beyond Premier League football to include AC Milan, FC Internazionale, FC Porto, Real Madrid CF, SL Benfica, and now features a broader representation of sports including cycling, rugby, basketball, tennis, and more.
Fanatics will also be in the Sports Zone. Ahead of the event (24-26 September at ExCeL, London), we spoke with Younes Layati, Fanatics’ senior director of licensing, about the current state of sports licensing.
BR: How do sports brand benefit from having a brand licensing programme?
YL: One of the biggest benefits a successful consumer products programme gives sports brands is that they have another touchpoint with their fans, above and beyond matchdays. Outside of social media, product is often one of the main touchpoint sports teams have with their fans, making a strong brand licensing programme a critical consideration.
A great example of the power of brand licensing is PSG, who we partner with at Fanatics. Over the course of our time together, PSG has transcended sport to also be recognised as a desirable lifestyle brand in its own right.
PSG succeeds by making sure the brand is visible at the right level, at the right volume, through products that mean something.
For example, PSG strategically positions itself in niche shops leveraging brand visibility and validation through association. And, to connect with current and potential future fans in their everyday lives, the club also has a presence in many everyday stores.
BR: Which sports’ brand licensing programmes are more mature?
YL: It’s a tricky question. Are we talking about volume of sales or the quality of what they are doing? For me, the NBA exemplifies an ideal sports licensing programme with its Nike Air Jordan, they work with Rihanna, they’re opening stores globally.
In terms of sales, it’s a fight between US football and global football (soccer). US football sells a lot of products in the US, but they starting to grow globally. Global football is obviously everywhere but in different volumes, and its global scale is what makes it stand out.
BR: Why is that and how / why can / should other sports catch up?
YL: An important nuance in brand licensing, which is increasingly being recognised across sport and an area in which we support our partners, is differing fan tastes and preferences around the world. For example, what appeals to a fan in Japan will not appeal to fans in Central Europe, and vice-versa, and sports properties need to be aware of these differences if they are to balance global reach with local appeal.
A great example of licensed product holding specific appeal in certain territories came last year as part of our partnership with MLB, during the World Baseball Classic in Japan. We designed and produced a unique “Pepper Mill” T-shirt, commemorating a celebration that went viral during the tournament, with the tee going down a storm with fans – quickly becoming the best-selling product – at the time – in the history of Fanatics Japan.
BR: Why is the value of the sports licensing category continually increasing?
YL: What a great question. Sports licensing is certainly getting more attention, and it’s a more professional sector than ever before as a result of this.
In terms of why the value of sports licensing is on the rise, in my view, there are two main reasons.
Firstly, in the last 10-15 years, sports have embraced their role as a form of entertainment and popular culture, opening up new and exciting avenues for collaboration.
Secondly, clubs have realised they have millions of fans around the world – or the potential to build a global fanbase – and they need to feed these audiences with entertaining content to keep them engaged. This has opened their minds to the power of first-class storytelling and content, to further elevate great product.
For example, when we first started talking to clubs about what Fanatics had been doing with our partners at PSG and UEFA, they were amazed by it – these conversations really opened the eyes of many to the massive and growing potential of sports licensing, in which we and our partners are leading the way.
BR: What do you think of the Paris 2024 consumer products programme? Any delights? Any missed opportunities?
YL: I’m biased. I’m French and Fanatics have been selling the official product, so of course I’m going to say the product line was great and they have a very positive market response. We’ve seen some brilliant, innovative collaborative campaigns during this past Olympics, and long may it continue.
BR: What are the big trends driving licensing that sports brands need to be aware of?
YL: The big one is direct to retail (DTR) partnerships. This is when retail brands do and own the strategies themselves. Retailers are staffed up now, they have more knowledgeable and connected people in-house curating which brands they want to work with, even if they’re not producing themselves. At Fanatics, we often work directly with our partners to operate their retail channels, where it makes sense for the partner and will enhance the overall fan experience, or even operate “connected commerce” partnerships, where we make product available to buy at NEXT, Sprinter Sports or Rakuten Ichiba.
I always say it’s important to think long term, not for this fiscal year but the next five years and think about fan engagement. Is there a local shop that makes sense for you to work with?
We are also seeing more and more high-fashion collaborations, bringing the worlds of sports and streetwear ever closer. We are highly familiar with the potential of this crossover appeal, through our work with the likes of PSG, MLB and NFL and expect to see more and more sports properties entering the world of high fashion in the foreseeable future.
BR: Apart from the products you’ve worked with, what’s your favourite sports brand licensing initiative?
YL: There are plenty to pick from but my top choice is Formula 1: Drive to Survive and how they leveraged that content to say, ‘we’re back in business’ and reach a whole new audience of F1 fans.
I watched F1 when I was 17 and had to put up with people saying it’s for old people. Those same people are now hooked on it. And that’s testament to the power of storytelling. In its simplest form, it’s people in a car driving super-fast, same as it was 20 years ago. However, with Drive to Survive F1 and Netflix brilliantly adapted content for the audience, framing rivalries and turning drivers into compelling characters. While many have since tried to do the same, across tennis, golf, the Tour de France and more, Drive to Survive isn’t a recipe you can easily recreate – it worked because it was perfect for that audience.
We can also see clear commercial uplifts from F1’s growing global appeal. Since our retail and merchandising partnership with F1 began in 2018, global sales on the official F1 Online Store – operated by Fanatics – boomed by 1,084% in just five years, with fans from well over 120 countries around the globe purchasing official F1 product.
