The Minnesota Wild have taken a bold step forward in enhancing the retail experience for their fans by partnering with Fanatics, a renowned global sports platform specializing in licensed sports merchandise. This new long-term collaboration aims to transform the retail landscape at the Xcel Energy Center, delivering a seamless and immersive shopping experience for Wild enthusiasts both in-store and online.
Fanatics, already a key player in powering the Wild’s e-commerce site through the NHL partnership, will now oversee all physical retail locations at the Xcel Energy Center and manage the online store HockeyLodge.com. By integrating in-venue and online retail operations, Fanatics seeks to create a unified omnichannel shopping experience, ensuring consistency and convenience for fans whether they are attending games or browsing from the comfort of their homes.
Carin Anderson, the Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Retail Management for the Minnesota Wild, expressed her excitement about this groundbreaking partnership. She highlighted the opportunities it presents for fans to access an expanded range of high-quality team merchandise, promising an enhanced shopping experience both at the upgraded Xcel Energy Center store and on the online platform.
Investing significantly in upgrading retail spaces at the Xcel Energy Center, Fanatics aims to optimize the shopping experience for fans during games and events. By unifying e-commerce and in-venue retail operations, the partnership endeavors to provide a consistent and convenient shopping environment for all Wild fans, ensuring they can proudly support their team with the latest merchandise.
Fanatics’ extensive collaboration with the NHL allows them exclusive rights to design, manufacture, and distribute a wide array of authentic NHL merchandise, including jerseys and fan apparel. Starting this season, Wild fans will have the opportunity to purchase authentic on-ice jerseys made by Fanatics, mirroring those worn by the players during games for the first time in over a decade.
In addition to Fanatics-branded products, the retail offerings at the Xcel Energy Center will feature a diverse selection of apparel, headwear, hard goods, and lifestyle items from renowned brands like Mitchell & Ness, New Era, WinCraft, as well as local favorites such as UNRL, SotaStick, and Levelwear, among others.
Ed O’Brien, the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Fanatics, expressed his enthusiasm for partnering with the Minnesota Wild. Recognizing the significance of hockey in Minnesota’s culture, he reiterated Fanatics’ commitment to providing an unparalleled retail experience that enables fans to celebrate the game and show unwavering support for their team, both on game days and beyond.
Fanatics has been actively enhancing The Hockey Lodge, the Wild’s flagship retail location, in preparation for a grand opening event scheduled for September 21. Coinciding with the introduction of the new authentic and replica jerseys, the event signifies a new era for fan merchandise offerings at the Xcel Energy Center.
By becoming the third NHL team for which Fanatics operates both in-venue and e-commerce retail, the Minnesota Wild are aligning themselves with other Minnesota-based sports organizations that have benefited from Fanatics’ expertise, including the Timberwolves, Lynx, Vikings, and University of Minnesota Athletics. This strategic partnership holds the promise of an exciting future for Wild fans as they immerse themselves in a world of top-quality merchandise and an unparalleled shopping experience.
