Christmas is a big day for the sports merchandise industry, as official team gear is an extremely popular gift choice, because if you know someone is a big fan of a team it’s about as safe a bet to be a good gift as you can find.
The problem is, Fanatics holds a near monopoly on the official team/league gear space and they are, well, not particularly good. There are often complaints about shipping delays and merchandise quality from Fanatics, but Christmas sees an exponential increase in angry tweets at the Fanatics account over botched gear — as an aside, I really hope the support folks at Fanatics get paid time and a half for having to deal with all of this on Christmas.
This year there were some truly prize mishaps on the part of Fanatics, and here I’m going to run through some of my favorites — but if you really want to get lost in the rabbit hole, just do a Twitter search for the @Fanatics account.
The one that I first saw blow up was this unbelievable AJ Brown jersey that I assume is from the Pablo Picasso collection.
That wasn’t the only blank mishap, as there was also this Bengals jersey with nothing on the front.
This custom jersey with a name in 12 point font made me laugh out loud at my in-laws.
There’s also this upside down Green Bay Packers logo that looks like a logo for tech company from the early 2000s that went bankrupt.
Tyreek Hall.
Quinn Hughe.
I also enjoy the “Accidental House Divided” merchandise category, featuring this Michigan/Illinois shirt.
A Maple Leafs/Rangers combo.
Not one but TWO Broncos/Chiefs jerseys.
A Vikings/Ravens jersey.
The classic confusion of the New York Rangers and New York Giants on a hoodie.
A blank Rockies logo mug.
Close enough!
