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    Fanatics expands into entertainment with new studio

    By SHOOTNo Comments169 Views
    A Fanatics sign is displayed behind Pittsburgh Pirates' Ke'Bryan Hayes during a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Pirates in Oakland, Calif., on April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

    By Jonathan Landrum Jr., Entertainment Writer

    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    Fanatics, the sports merchandising giant best known for jerseys and collectibles, is moving deeper into entertainment and bringing fans closer to the action.

    The company announced Tuesday the launch of Fanatics Studios, a new content arm with initial projects including the official Olympic film for the LA28 Games, a multipart documentary following seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and joining ESPN as a producer of the 2026 ESPY Awards. Other partnerships will include WWE, MLB and Fox Sports.

    Fanatics Studios will independently create, finance, produce and distribute projects spanning feature films and documentaries, unscripted originals, live event specials and premium digital series.

    The move adds a major content arm to Fanatics’ growing sports platform, which already includes apparel, collectibles, betting and live events like Fanatics Fest, which will be held this year in New York from July 16-19.

    “I’m incredibly excited about launching Fanatics Studios and adding an important content and media business to our growing sports platform that also supports all of our existing businesses,” said Fanatics founder Michael Rubin, who will partner with Michael Ratner and his production company, OBB Media.

    Ratner will serve as CEO of Fanatics Studios while continuing to run OBB’s other businesses.

    “Sports and pop culture are converging at the heart of the global entertainment landscape and we’re building Fanatics Studios to redefine what is possible at that intersection,” Ratner said.

    Among the studio’s early projects is “One More Drive,” a documentary series tracking Brady as he prepares for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic and explores a potential run at Team USA as flag football makes its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Fanatics Studios will also oversee Olympic-related projects highlighting athletes, culture and defining moments of the Games.

    The studio will hold a launch event in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening.

    “We are going to continue pushing our mission of relentlessly enhancing the fan experience by creating content that brings fans closer than ever to the teams, players, sports, cultural moments and events that they love in a way that’s never been done before,” Rubin said.

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    News Categories:News Briefs
    Aggregated Categories:News Briefs
    Tags:FanaticsFanatics StudiosMichael RatnerMichael RubinOBB Media



    Prosecutors say singer D4vd stabbed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez to death to silence her

    Wednesday, April 29, 2026
    In this courtroom sketch, David Anthony Burke, whose stage name is D4vd, is seen in court Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Los Angeles on charges of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (Bill Robles via AP)

    Prosecutors said Wednesday that singer D4vd killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez by stabbing her multiple times then dismembered her body using chain saws in his garage.

    The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office shared what they said the evidence in the case would show in a court filing that provided the first detailed allegations of the killing and efforts to cut apart Rivas Hernandez's body and get rid of evidence.

    The court filing said D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18, and killed her when she threatened to reveal their inappropriate relationship.

    "Knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened, very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out," the filing said.

    Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other counts. His lawyers have said he is innocent and did not cause Rivas Hernandez's death.

    Her body was found decomposing in a Tesla towed from the Hollywood Hills in September of last year.

    Prosecutors said they had obtained text messages that showed their sexual relationship, including child sexual abuse images of her on his phone.

    "The messages reveal the victim's jealousy over defendant's relationships with other women, as defendant led her to believe they had a future together," the document says. "She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life."

    The filing said he sent a rideshare car to pick her up on the night of April 23, 2025, from her hometown... Read More

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