How Michael Rubin — And His Lavish Parties — Merge The Worlds Of Sports And Music

If an accurate cross section point between music, sports and business exists, not far from Michael Rubin, the billionaire founder and CEO of Fanatics. Selling licensed apparel from nearly every major professional sports team is Rubin's job, but his most trusted friends, collaborators and advisors include Jay-Z, Meek Mill and Lil Baby and his parties — especially his famous summer “ white party' in the Hamptons — join superstar athletes like Tom Brady and James Harden with A-list artists like Travis Scott and Beyoncé.

For this reason, attending a Rubin party is more than just fun. it can be a wise business decision. Jay-Z and Latin music star J Balvin have both attended Rubin's events. three months after crossing paths at one in February 2023, Balvin signed with Jay's Roc Nation management. Rubin won't comment on cause and effect, but allows “every year, dozens of great things come out of each of these events.” Talk to you Advertising sign from his office in Philadelphia.

What have you learned about business from your friends in music?

Music drives culture, and culture drives business, so I always pick trends. Meek kept telling me, “The fitted hats get hot, the caps are going to be too hot” — and Meek's input led to us buying caps [in 2019]. Jay-Z has been a partner, an investor, in every one of our businesses — he's a partner in the sports betting business [Fanatics Betting & Gaming]is a partner [sports merchandiser] Mitchell & Ness, is an investor in Fanatics. I always get different bits of wisdom from him on how to build a really interesting consumer company. Jay understands the consumer better than most people.

What is an example?

Once we had Lids, I was in a conversation with Jay and Lil Baby, and Jay said, “Michael, the way you have to think about hats is the same way you have to think about sneakers, like they're part of your wardrobe. You get up every day, put on your jeans, your hoodie, your sneakers and your hat.” I hadn't thought of it that way before.

What do you think your musician friends are learning from you?

The biggest things that music people go for are business deals and how to build a meaningful business beyond music. I will try to help them, give them recommendations. Meek helped come up with the idea for Lids, and this was a huge comeback for him.

Have you ever considered investing in the music industry?

No. I have a lot on my plate so I need to stay focused on building Fanatics.

What about music merchandise?

We've had a lot of artists say, “Hey, we'd love for you to do our music merchandise.” We don't think it makes sense to us. We bring in artists we're interested in doing sports collaborations. We are willing to sell artist merchandise on Fanatics in a small way, but this is not a real opportunity for us.

What parties or events do you have planned for 2024?

I like to do very few things very well. I'm not much of a quantity person. We will be doing four events this year. I'm going to have the white party — that's a completely personal party where I'm just bringing together people who are important in my life. The white party is only 350 people. I'm having the Super Bowl party. There are tens of thousands of people who [want to] come and I get 1,000. You can't buy tickets, you can't buy tables. they're just all my guests.

How obsessed are you with party details?

I run the white party list by myself, I run the Super Bowl party list by myself. I approve every person who comes. It's just a matter of making sure I have the right people in the room.

How do you choose the music?

I always get information from Jay-Z. I'll call and ask people, “Hey, do we want this person? Don't we want that person?' People don't understand — I'm not a music guy. My brain doesn't work like that. I can remember every number from every business deal I've done since I was 8 years old, but I can't remember the words to any song.

This story will appear in the February 10, 2024 issue Advertising sign.