Fanatics to open flagship Atlanta store in Hawks retail partnership
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The gist
Fanatics will open a flagship Atlanta sports store at Centennial Yards in 2027 and run the Hawks' retail and e-commerce.
The deal marks the retailer's first store inside a mixed-use development and expands its arena footprint.
Background
Fanatics is a privately held sports retailer that also runs a sportsbook and a prediction-market platform, led by founder and CEO Michael Rubin. The Atlanta Hawks are the NBA team whose retail operations Fanatics will now handle, both online and inside State Farm Arena. The Centennial Yards store would be Fanatics' first location in a mixed-use development — a 50-acre, $5 billion downtown Atlanta project next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena — and the first year-round place outside the arena to buy Hawks apparel.
How it unfolded
- Oct 16, 2026Fanatics announces a flagship Atlanta sports store at Centennial Yards, expected to open in 2027, under a multiyear retail partnership with the Atlanta Hawks; Fanatics will take over the team's e-commerce business and arena retail.
- Oct 16, 2026CEO Michael Rubin projects U.S. betting and gaming marketing spending could more than double to $7 billion in 2027 from about $3 billion in 2025, with Fanatics raising its own budget from $350 million to as much as $1 billion.
- Oct 19, 2026HawksShop.com launches as the Hawks' official e-commerce site, built on Fanatics' Cloud Commerce Platform.
- Oct 19, 2026Fanatics Sports & Casino announces the FAIR PLAY Max Pledge, offering full-game player protection at no charge across the NFL and NBA.
- Oct 24, 2026Fanatics begins running all in-arena retail at State Farm Arena as the Hawks open their home schedule.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Hawks executive Andrew Saltzman called Fanatics one of the most respected players in sports retail and said the partnership will give fans a world-class experience online and in-store.
- Official
- Centennial Yards Company president Brian McGowan said the sports-retail leader choosing the project for its first mixed-use location says something about where downtown Atlanta is headed.
- Official
- Fanatics sportsbook president Ted Moss said the company was first to launch player injury protection and is now first to cover the whole game at no charge.
- Caution
- Rubin said Fanatics is "a distant number three" in betting and gaming and that the market could not be more competitive, naming DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics and the two leading prediction-market operators as five well-funded players.
Still unverified
Rubin said he is unsure how much consolidation will occur among the five major players over the next several years.