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Andrew Tobias grew up in Florida and was passionate about art at an early age, calling himself “super visual and spatially oriented.”
“I took pretty much every art class I could through school, and in high school I started getting into drafting and technical drawing,” he recounts. “I really found a knack for CAD, and that combined with my art background led me toward architecture.”
He went to Florida State where he discovered its interior design program by chance on the university’s website and ended up doing a double major in graphic design and interior design.
“I stayed on as a TA and got my master’s in interior design,” he recalls. “That program gave me a deeper focus on furniture design and the detailing that requires, and how to apply that to interiors as well.”
Coming out of college, Tobias moved down to Miami and worked at a small boutique hospitality firm that also did furniture design. That’s where he learned how products get sold to manufacturers.
At the time, he admits that not everything was perfect. He was broke, Miami was expensive, and he started looking for jobs in London, New York, and anywhere else something interesting came up. His girlfriend at the time, now his wife, got a teaching job in Jacksonville, Florida, so he applied to Gresham Smith and started working there.
“Within a month, the Fanatics account landed in my lap, and that became my client for about three years,” he explains. “With 99 percent of my time on Fanatics projects, I was thrown onto the rocket ship as Fanatics began to rapidly expand. Ahead of a large project, Fanatics created the role to oversee workplace design and construction globally, and the chance to move to the client side felt like a great opportunity.”
Today, Tobias is the director of global design and construction for Fanatics, the leading global digital sports platform that sells licensed sports merchandise and collectibles.
“When I joined Fanatics, I thought, this is going to be all about offices,” he notes. “But then I found myself jumping into manufacturing and fulfilment sites, retail spaces, and innovative projects that I had never expected. The variety is what’s kept it really engaging. The big shift was that I went from being the designer taking direction, to being the one making the calls and guiding the vision. It gave me a chance to be more strategic and have a bigger impact.”
Fanatics has grown considerably since Tobias came aboard, expanding from sports merchandise into broader areas like trading cards, collectibles, and sports betting through acquisitions and new ventures.
Fanatics’ expansion has also taken Tobias overseas, where he helped lead the design of the Fanatics Collectibles’ flagship store in London, while also leading multiple office build-outs for all Fanatics’ Business Units across Europe and Asia
“When we did the London flagship Collectibles store, it was about figuring out how to showcase memorabilia in a way that felt premium but still inviting,” Tobias shares. “We wanted fans to walk in and feel immersed in the brand experience, not just browsing products, while also educating future collectors”
Back in the US, Tobias spearheaded the redesign of Fanatics’ New York office, balancing a modern, flexible workplace with nods to the brand’s sports heritage.
“The office needed to feel like Fanatics, but also be flexible and collaborative,” he explains. “We tried to create spaces that support how people actually work today, while still celebrating the sports culture that drives the company.”
His strategic, open style of collaboration has also been recognized by Fanatics’ partners. John Downie, senior vice president of strategic solutions at Advent, notes that working with Tobias represents the rare kind of partnership where vision and trust align: “Collaborating with Andrew and the Fanatics team is one of those rare ‘once-in-a-career’ moments where everything aligns—working with a client who leads with vision, trusts the process, and leans into our expertise to elevate the work. It’s the kind of partnership where all ships rise.”
Together, the two projects illustrate how his approach scales across very different environments.
One of Tobias’ current exiting projects is the new flagship retail experience for Mitchell & Ness in Philadelphia, which is due to open in 2026.
“That one is special because Philly is such a passionate sports town,” he exclaims. “We want the space to feel like it belongs to the fans as much as to the brand. The challenge was creating a store that could showcase all the different product categories but still feel cohesive and authentic to the city.”
Therefore, his design was as much about honoring local culture as it was about retail.
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“When people walk in, they should immediately feel that connection to Philadelphia sports,” he says. “We are working hard to capture that energy in the design.”
Tobias describes his leadership style as collaborative and hands-on, shaped by his transition from being a designer executing directions to now guiding teams and setting vision.
“The big shift for me was going from the person doing the drawings to the person interpreting the business needs and giving direction to talented designers,” he shares. “I try to lead by listening first and making sure everyone has a voice in the process. At the same time, I’m not afraid to make a decision when it’s needed and give the team a clear path forward. I want the people I work with to feel ownership of the work. When everyone’s invested, the results are always stronger.”
Outside of work, Tobias spends much of his free time with his two daughters—ages three and eleven months. He also tries to golf when he can and plays tennis or basketball occasionally. His love of sports has only intensified working for Fanatics.
“I love watching and going to games and playing pickup sports, but I’m not a stats guy; I’m not deep in the weeds of rosters and numbers,” he explains. “Right now, my wife has gotten really into the WNBA, so we’ve been watching the playoffs. And of course, I’m a die-hard FSU football fan, even though this season is rough . . .”
Throughout his time at Fanatics, Tobias has been able to blend that creative, artistic side from his art background with the more technical and strategic side of design that’s nothing short of a game-winning home run.
ADVENT CREATES EXPERIENCES THAT MOVE PEOPLE®. We harness research, technology and storytelling to inspire and drive value. We have partnered with international brands like Fanatics, the Dallas Cowboys, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame on marquee projects, and we are equally proud of our work creating storytelling experiences for colleges and universities including the University of Oregon, Stanford University and the University of Texas.
Over the past 25 years, Advent has provided brand consulting, storytelling design and installation for more than 2,500 projects in the U.S. and Europe. We have served more than 300 collegiate and professional sports clients in addition to several corporations, museums, halls of fame and non-profits. Headquartered in Nashville, the firm employs 45 full-time professionals and dozens of contract professionals, with offices from Poland to Little Rock.
Our work in digital technology led us to develop an in-house dream team of specialists, making it possible for us to deliver turn-key experiences like the custom project for Fanatics in New York. Our work with Fanatics and Andrew Tobias is a great example of how we strategically create experiences that move people—whether they are corporate customers, fans or VIPs.
Founded in 1992 by Maurice Regan, J.T. Magen is a New York–headquartered, independently owned builder with satellite offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Austin. Across broadcast/studio, financial services, healthcare, hospitality, law, mission-critical, nonprofit, residential, retail, and TAMI work, we pair rigorous construction management with craftsmanship to turn complex programs into spaces that work beautifully. Sustainability is standard, and diversity and inclusion shape how our teams think and build. More than a contractor, J.T. Magen creates environments that inspire, innovate, and elevate everyday experience.
