Football Fanatics Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Football Fanatics for less than a year

Pros – Casual Dress- and even that is a bit much.

Cons – I completely agree with another reviewer who commented that one should expect to be treated as if they have the education of a 7th grader. They expect you to work your tail off for little pay- while the executives make 6 figures and have their every whim attended to. And if you are going there with the thought in mind that you can get your foot in the door as an admin or some other lower level employee and then move up... proceed with caution. Most likely you will be given such menial, degrading tasks- that you''ll not want to stay. (I.e. for an administrative office position- be expecting to stock the girls bathroom and kitchen, kiss up, get executives their lunches, etc).

Advice to Senior Management – Treat people with respect and invest in them instead of treating them as disposable.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Football Fanatics full-time for less than a year

Pros – This is a growing company with a lot of potential. The dress code is extremely casual. It is working with sports, which is a dream job for a lot of people. They offer a fairly generous discount for employees on merchandise (30%). It is really not a difficult job especially if you know how to write. Once the company gets through their growing pains, it might actually be a pleasant place to work.

Cons – Extremely poor management. Most of those who are treated well are all friendly with people who are higher up. Training is almost non-existent and pay is below market value. There is almost zero opportunity for advancement. Management is rather difficult to approach. You are expected to know just about everything within a couple weeks. Manager is more interested in throwing parties and looking good to those above her than actually developing quality employees. There is extremely poor management of workflow and little communication from those above. They seem afraid of teaching anybody anything more than the basics. You have to walk through a metal detector every time you want to leave the building and park rather far away. There are no set standards and you can get told to do one thing on Monday and then told to do the opposite on Tuesday, then back to the first thing on Wednesday. There is a huge lack of honesty between management and employees. As for writing in a quiet environment -- forget it. It is a 3-ring circus in the copy department every day. The schedule constantly changes and is communicated many times on a day-to-day basis. The copy manager likes to micromanage and does not actually look at performance based on merit but on her own personal opinions. The place is run like a poorly managed retail store. I would avoid it at all costs, but if you do take a job there, keep someplace else in your back pocket or else you might find yourself back in the job market without much notice.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop running this like a small business. Pay close attention to your managers and the hiring process. You have good people who have ideas on how to improve your business but a high-turnover rate because the managers like to keep their friends, not good employees. You used to be a retail store years ago -- it's time to get passed that and run the company like the world class business you can be!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Football Fanatics full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – It's sports, something most people would kill to work in. Casual dress in jeans and tshirts is a nice perk as well. Discounts are OK depending on what you're looking to save on, but the company hates discounting so it often doesn't add up to much.

Cons – The company does not value its employees. At all. others have said it, too, but the potential for advancement is non-existent. This is largely due to a culture of paranoia where the top decisions makers call the shots and, aside from them, most employees are relegated to menial tasks involving little-to-no critical thinking, which just furthers the cycle because now you are entirely replaceable. The reason for the paranoia is in the fact that they don't want employees to know anything remotely vital for fear they will take it to another company. Wish i was kidding. Then there is the business itself. The pay would be OK for retail if you worked your shift in a store and went home, but online the store never closes and any events (Championships, etc.) need to have your attention and the pay just doesn't account for it. One side of sports people rarely mention. Benefits are bad to say the least and the vacation policy is almost non-existent. When you combine all of this with the fact that the company is in the process of merging three companies and their technology, it's a train wreck.

Advice to Senior Management – Talk to your employees and really listen. People openly discuss wanting to leave because they're constantly marginalized and treated like they have the education of 7th graders. If they weren't so poorly regarded by their own company, you wouldn't need to worry about them "taking secrets to the enemy" because they'd never leave. Open up communication to the point that it actually exists. Stop operating like the local mom-and-pop sports store and instead like the largest sports retailer you brag that you are.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Football Fanatics full-time for less than a year

Pros – Dress casual. CIO is very nice.

Cons – IT level is low. Has lots of problems. Benefits are poor. Not much time off for vacations or sickness. Management has poor communication with employees. No advancement potential.

Advice to Senior Management – Think about why people quit.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company