Fanatics’ meteoric ascension continues after a new funding round more than doubled its valuation. 

The privately held online sports merchandise retailer raised $320 million in new funding, bringing its valuation to $12.8 billion, a significant jump from its $6.2 billion valuation in August, per CNBC.

The latest round included current investors like Major League Baseball, Fidelity, and Silver Lake Partners. Fanatics will use the funds to expand its vertical commerce division and international footprint, as well as consider additional mergers and acquisitions, per sources close to the deal.

The company has separated itself from the rest of the pack through its exclusive deals with sports leagues and teams, making it an attractive business venture for investors. Fanatics expects to reach $3 billion in sales this year, while its e-commerce operation is already up 30% year-over-year. 

The growth has been fueled by the company’s recent acquisition of former competitor WinCraft, and the launch of Fanatics China, a joint business venture with private equity firm Hillhouse Capital that will bring merchandise to the sports-loving country of 1.4 billion.

WinCraft generates more than $100 million annually, while Fanatics China is expected to be worth more than $1 billion.

Earlier this month, Fanatics appointed five-time NBA champion and business mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson to its board of directors.

Brick by brick, step by step, the NFL’s former prohibition against sports betting is crumbling.

The New Orleans Saints are close to a deal to make Caesars Entertainment naming rights sponsor of the Superdome for the next two decades, according to The Athletic.

Saints owner Gayle Benson recently met with executives from the betting house in Las Vegas to finalize a deal that could pay the team $10 million annually for 20 years. Mercedes-Benz’s current 10-year naming rights deal expires in July.

“We do not have anything official to report as there is not a signed deal with any company at this time,” a Saints spokesman told The Athletic. “We continue to have conversations with numerous interested companies.”

More than any sports league, the NFL has held the gaming industry at arm’s length, not even allowing TV announcers to mention points spreads during game telecasts. But that’s changing quickly, especially since the league has lost an estimated $3- $4 billion during the pandemic. 

The NFL is also talking to Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel about league-wide gambling sponsorships similar to lucrative deals signed by other sports leagues.

While announcing the NFL’s 11-year, $113 billion media rights deal, commissioner Roger Goodell said he’s looking to “find ways we can engage fans through legalized sports betting.”

Majority owner Dan Snyder has a deal in place to purchase the remaining 40% of the Washington Football Team that he doesn’t own. 

Snyder will pay close to $1 billion to acquire the shares of the team held by real estate mogul Dwight Schar, FedEx chief executive Fred Smith, and investor Robert Rothman, a person with knowledge of the agreement told Front Office Sports on Wednesday.

The agreement effectively ends the long-running dispute between Snyder and the minority owners that led to allegations of an extortion campaign, a federal lawsuit, and an NFL investigation. 

The next step is getting approval of the overall deal by 75% of team owners, an NFL source confirmed. The vote could take place as soon as Tuesday.

The NFL finance committee has agreed to a debt waiver of $450 million to allow Snyder to finance about half the deal, a source said. Tyler Dunne was the first to report the agreement.

Front Office Sports previously reported that the attorney for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had contacted Moag & Co., the firm tapped by the co-owners to sell their chunk of the team.

Former U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch led an investigation into the feud between Snyder and the three WFT minority owners. The impending sale makes that investigation moot. However, a separate investigation into allegations of a hostile workplace environment is still pending, an NFL source told FOS.