Fanatics & Boardroom Team Up to Launch Chapter: Next, a Three-Day Career Intensive with the Biggest Names in Business
Today, the global sports platform Fanatics and sports media and entertainment brand Boardroom, announced a first-of-its-kind partnership aimed at helping athletes enhance their unique skills for business success. As an expansion of Fanatics’ Athlete Immersion Program, which launched in November 2023, Boardroom will collaborate with Fanatics to offer three days of professional development initiatives designed specifically for athletes and their management teams. The first program will take place June 18-20, 2025, in New York and culminate at Fanatics Fest, which takes place for the second year at the iconic Javits Center, June 20-22.
The Chapter: Next program combines the success of Fanatics’ global business platform with Boardroom’s strength in storytelling and brand building to equip athletes and their associates with business skills needed for success beyond the court, field, and ice. This three-day immersive program will incorporate a wide range of experiences, including curriculum created in partnership with the University of Southern California, one-on-one mentorship, dinners with CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry leaders, curated panel discussions, hands-on sessions with Fanatics executives, a Mitchell & Ness design challenge, and Boardroom Meeting House at Fanatics Fest. This dynamic experience will provide program participants with a designated networking space at Fanatics Fest, which will bring together more than 500 athletes, celebrities, and artists across major leagues, brands, and key partners.
Participants of Chapter: Next will also receive a membership to the soon-to-launch Boardroom Members Club, an exclusive community that will continue to provide access to an unparalleled sports and entertainment business network after the three-day program concludes.
“The spirit of Boardroom has always been to bring people into the rooms we're lucky enough to be in and curate spaces to share knowledge,” said Boardroom co-founder and CEO Rich Kleiman. “I'm excited to partner with Michael Rubin and the team at Fanatics to expand the work they've already done in this space and bring some incredible programming to athletes and their teams.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Rich, KD and the entire team at Boardroom to reimagine and elevate Fanatics’ athlete development efforts,” said Michael Rubin, Founder and CEO, Fanatics. “Fanatics exists because of the incredible athletes across all sports and the connections they have to fans around the world, and we have a commitment to create opportunities for them to thrive beyond their playing careers. That’s exactly what this program is built to do.”
Following the June program and launch of Boardroom Meeting House at Fanatics Fest, Fanatics and Boardroom will host a second three-day event in the beginning of December with athletes in sports with a winter offseason such as WNBA, NWSL, and MLB. The companies will also collaborate on additional networking touchpoints at sports and entertainment events throughout the year.