Alex Silverman/SBJ
Fanatics, the NHL’s new uniform outfitter beginning with the 2024-25 season, offered the first public look at its
new Authentic Pro jerseys over the weekend at the draft in Las Vegas. Players drafted in the first round received the new Fanatics-branded uniforms on stage at Sphere while a graphic of a jersey featuring the player’s name and the Fanatics flag logo appeared on the venue’s giant screen.
“For Fanatics, what a great way to say, ‘here we are,’” said NHL Senior EVP & Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer. “That was obviously a huge emphasis of our planning, and they definitely should be happy after the first round.”
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin was on the ground in Las Vegas for night one of the draft, joined by Keith Leach, the VP and GM for the NHL and Canada, and Senior Creative Dir Dom Fillion. The company welcomed a handful of draftees, along with hockey stakeholders and media members to a suite at Encore where it had all 32 team’s Authentic Pro jerseys on display.
“We couldn't have asked for a better backdrop or palette honestly,” Leach said. “It was amazing to see the first overall pick receive that first jersey from Fanatics, and the Sphere was just an amazing mechanism for us to show it off.”
Other brands with a significant presence at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas included event title sponsor Upper Deck, which
took over the Sphere’s exterior with creative promoting its Young Guns rookie card collection, and AstraZeneca, which honored 9-year-old Golden Knights fan and cancer survivor Izzy Woodward before the first round as a “Hockey Fights Cancer Draft Hero.”
Alex Silverman/SBJ
