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Boston sports fan Brian Babz, who goes by @babzonthemic, took fan complaints about Fanatics right to the top, meeting with CEO Michael Rubin. A few weeks ago, Babz, who has over 120,000 followers between X/Twitter and Instagram, moved beyond the world of niche Boston sports personalities to become the figurehead of an online campaign targeting the sports conglomerate Fanatics, known as #EndFanatics. Despite the name, Babz has no desire to actually take down Fanatics. Instead, he told FOS in an interview that #EndFanatics is simply calling for better merchandise quality and consistency from Fanatics—which has licensing partnerships with all major professional sports leagues—as well as a wider array of product price points. The effort broke through: this week, Babz had an in-person meeting with Fanatics’ billionaire founder and CEO Rubin in New York City. Babz told FOS it was arranged informally by a mutual contact who does not work for Fanatics. The path to the Rubin meeting began in earnest on Jan. 27 when Babz posted a “frustrated rant” on X about the disparity between the prices of Fanatics fan jerseys—often hovering around $160—and their quality, which he likened in the post to “something you’d buy at the Walmart rack.” To date, it has garnered almost 2 million views. The #EndFanatics movement is reaching beyond those upset with Fanatics’ wearable products, too. “A lot of the card-collecting community has tapped in and are sharing their own concerns,” said Babz. (Fanatics acquired Topps in 2022 for $500 million.) “It’s snowballed into this whole bigger conversation. We have Jets fans, Eagles fans, Bills fans. Guys who I would’ve made fun of even just a few weeks ago, now we’re coming together. I want to try to be the bridge that gaps the average sports fan to Fanatics’ direct line.” Swipe to see what Babz took away from his meeting at Fanatics HQ.