NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- While Fanatics is taking over the Titans' merchandise operation, it does not mean the much-maligned manufacturer's products will dominate the marketplace.
The team announced Monday that Fanatics is its new "omnichannel retail partner." I felt like that complicated things as omnichannel is an unfamiliar word and concept.
"Under the new deal, Fanatics assumes operations of the full suite of on-site merchandise and fan gear touchpoints at Nissan Stadium, and launches a new, advanced e-commerce platform for the team," the announcement said.
Many fans are understandably wary of Fanatics products which have a terrible reputation.
But it's important to note that Fantatics as operators does not mean their product will be the overwhelming merchandise choice at titansteamstore.com.
"Fanatics actually has a great reputation in terms of running team stores," Titans president and CEO Burke Nihil told me. "They have a technology backbone that makes the supply chain that much stronger. The team store website will be able to get things to fans that much more quickly. We've worked on this for two years and it wasn't very close in terms of the actual performance. Fanatics is well ahead of any competition in terms of the operation of a team store.
"All the typical Nike on-field apparel and New Era hats, I think from a product mix perspective, you're not 
going to see any fall off of anything that would currently be sold at a team store. It's just going to be added to."
Courtney Carini, the team's senior vice president of brand marketing, said there will ultimately be a much "broader and deeper range of merchandise."
"This is not a manufacturing relationship, this is a commerce partnership," she said.
Legends previously ran the team's merchandise arm.
Fanatics will help design and build out the retail footprint inside the new Nissan Stadium. The main store will be about 14,000 square feet of retail space on two levels. The venue will also feature satellite stores throughout the concourses.
The team store at the current stadium is currently closed for the transition. It will re-open with limited inventory in a few weeks and then be fully stocked with what the team says will be "an unprecedented assortment of exciting, new Titans gear" at a grand opening before the 2024 NFL season kicks off.
It will be open and accessible for the team's draft event on Thursday, April.
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