Jakprints, Inc. (asi/233076), a Cleveland, OH-headquartered distributor/apparel decorator, has inked a new partnership with Fanatics – the world’s largest distributor of licensed sports merchandise. Announced Thursday, the deal will have Jakprints supporting the domestic embellishment production needs of Fanatics, the household name merchandiser that holds apparel and fan gear licenses with major sports leagues and hundreds of professional and collegiate partners.

[At left] Jed Seifert, Co-Owner, Jakprints; [At right] Jim Hardy, SVP of Supply Chain, Fanatics.

"We couldn't be more excited about our long-term partnership with the world's leader in licensed sports merchandising,” said Jed Seifert, co-owner of Jakprints. “The new partnership sets the stage for both companies to capitalize on their rapid expansion plans through mutually beneficial growth strategies.”

Fanatics is pumped too, saying the partnership will fuel its drive to continually improve manufacturing agility and accelerate speed-to-market, among other advantages. “We are proud to continue partnering with Jakprints to exceed our fan's expectations on quality and speed," said Jim Hardy, Fanatics’ senior vice president of supply chain.

As for the particulars, Jakprints said it will be providing Fanatics with embellishment services that include screen printing, full-color transfers, dye sublimation, embroidery, and made-to-order digital printing. According to the company, Jakprints’ goal is to be a valuable partner that helps empower Fanatics to offer the widest assortment of merchandise across a variety of channels, including a growing direct-to-consumer and wholesale business.

On Thursday, Jakprints also announced that it has opened a new 140,000-square-foot facility in Eastlake, OH. The space will generate more than 100 new jobs, and feature $7 million in what Jakprints characterized as state-of-the-art equipment. The facility is the third Jakprints location; the others are in downtown Cleveland, OH and Oceanside, CA.

Founded in 1999, Jakprints specializes in short-run direct-to-consumer printing, on-demand-printing, apparel printing, full-color offset printing, sticker production and large format printing.

In addition to being a primary supplier for major professional sports leagues, Jakprints' roster of partners includes Nike, Adidas, Disney, Universal Music Group, Bravado, Fame House, Live Nation, Warner Music Group, Threadless, Dick's Sporting Goods, Musictoday, Juxtapoz, WWE, Thrasher, Stand Up 2 Cancer, NBC, Showtime, CBS, Comedy Central, Complex, Karmaloop, Spotify, Playbill, Gooten, Delta, Design By Humans, House of Blues, Lagunitas, Monopile and more than 20,000 small businesses worldwide.