Sports apparel giant Fanatics offered NFL fans an apology over recent feedback. However, the response from the company doesn’t appear to grasp the issue its customers are facing.
Fans of the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are outraged over the poor quality that Fanatics put out for some Super Bowl LX jerseys for purchase.
The company, led by CEO Michael Rubin, has had a contentious relationship among fans as it has slowly gained a near-monopoly on the sports apparel industry while offering low quality merchandise.
It’s become so common that there are social media accounts dedicated to highlighting errors the company has made from low quality materials to spelling mistakes to completely incorrect orders.
But during the week of the Super Bowl, the company charged $160 for two jerseys which look nothing similar to what players would wear on the field.
In a statement released on Monday, Fanatics offered something of an apology to customers and sports fans while attempting to explain why the quality of their product was so poor.
Fanatics has apologized to NFL fans for the poor quality of its Super Bowl jerseys
The company, led by CEO Michael Rubin, has been long criticized for its poor quality apparel
‘NFL fans, we’ve seen your jersey feedback, and we take it very seriously. We’ve let Patriots and Seahawks fans down with product availability – we own that and we are sorry,’ the company wrote in the statement.
‘This Super Bowl matchup has created unprecedented challenges for us because of the massive surge in demand we saw from Patriots and Seahawks fans. Both teams went from missing the playoffs last season to being in the Super Bowl, an incredibly rare occurrence that led to these two fanbases buying nearly 400% more jerseys since Thanksgiving vs. last year.
‘Even though we ordered substantially more jerseys for these teams than ever before, we’ve struggled to meet the overwhelming demand to keep team color jerseys in stock, which we know is your expectation. As sports fans, we understand your frustration and we will work tirelessly to be better.
‘We are bringing in more team color jerseys daily and offering alternative options in the meantime. We’ve heard questions about the quality of these alternate jerseys and can assure you that, despite some unflattering photos, these jerseys are identical to the standard Nike replica “Game” jersey – one of the highest consumer-rated items we carry built on the core template that has been unchanged since Nike took over NFL jerseys in 2012.’
The statement ended with a promise that fans could return jerseys they aren’t satisfied with for free and stressed that they are ‘ready with a deep assortment of jerseys and fan gear for whoever wins on Sunday.’
The difference between Fanatics’ jersey (L) and the actual Seattle Seahawks’ jersey (R)
The difference between Fanatics’ jersey (L) and the actual New England Patriots’ jersey (R)
Fans did not buy the apology, calling it ‘pathetic’ and saying their attempt to fix their image made things ‘significantly worse’.
The comment section under the post was littered with fans expressing disdain for the company – with some even adding their own pictures clearly indicating the difference in quality.
Others pointed out that the company has been making similar jerseys for other teams who have appeared in the Super Bowl for years – with negative reviews present around that time as well.
The issues around poor quality are not restricted to football. In 2024, baseball fans criticized the company for shoddily produced MLB uniforms which were made of thin and partially sheer fabric.
Fanatics also is the official jersey supplier of the National Hockey League, with fans there also unsatisfied with the product.
