They are going to make masks and gowns for hospitals in Pennsylvania and nearby states instead of using the polyester mesh fabric to make baseball uniforms.
Fanatics is the global leader in licensed sports merchandise. They are an official partner of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Nascar, College sports and more. They make team apparel and jerseys for sports fans.
Fanatics also the manufactures uniforms for Major League Baseball.
The company repurposed the Bryce Harper jersey that could have been worn this baseball season by the biggest Philadelphia Phillies fan into the design for a protective mask in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
They are going to become masks and gowns for hospitals in Pennsylvania and nearby state instead using the polyester mesh fabric to make baseball uniforms.
The founder and executive chairman of Fanatics is Michael Rubin. He found this idea last week while watching TV (not sports).
How could he turn the 360,000-square foot facility in Easton, Pennsylvania, into a factory for the COVID-19 virus fight?
(Thread):
— Michael Rubin (@MichaelGRubin) March 26, 2020
Woke up in the middle of the night last week with idea of converting our @Fanatics factory in PA that makes official @MLB jerseys into a facility that makes much needed masks and gowns and then donating them to help fight this horrendous virus. pic.twitter.com/r6FAxUdlgH
St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem reached out to him with an idea.
The state was in “dire need” of more masks and gowns. The Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro let Rubin know this.
Fanatics, with Rubin at the helm, developed a prototype that was quickly approved by the state’s emergency agency. The company halted production of all baseball jerseys with the blessing of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Rubin told The Associated Press, “We’ve got a million yards of fabric that we make these baseball uniforms from, what would you think if we take that fabric and make masks and gowns. ‘Great. I want to do it immediately. The most important thing is we’ve got to help the heroes on the front line and baseball can help play a role in it.’”
Fanatics hope to produce nearly 15,000 masks and gown a day.
Even though the Fanatics production plant had been shut down as a nonessential business over 100 workers have returned to work for Fanatics.
They are making Level 1 masks, used for low-risk, nonsurgical procedures that are for single-use only.
We’re proud to partner with @MLB to support emergency personnel who are fighting against COVID-19 and face a need for masks and hospital gowns. We’re utilizing our manufacturing plant in Easton, PA to make masks and gowns out of the same jersey fabric that the players wear pic.twitter.com/5jEg1B2iUa
— Fanatics (@Fanatics) March 26, 2020
sources used: shared.us