Filed under: Beckett Media, NFL, Panini | Tags: NFL PLAYERS, NFL Properties, NFL Trading Cards, Panini America, Tim Tebow
While Wednesday’s release of 2010 Panini Prestige Football may have let the cat out of the bag (especially for those within the hobby), NFL Properties, NFL Players and Panini officially announced today a multiyear trading card and collectible stickers agreement effective with the release of Prestige.
Thanks largely to Prestige’s inclusion of Tim Tebow‘s first NFL Rookie Card and certified autograph cards, football collectors have been buzzing for the last 36 hours. For them, this announcement was a mere formality that was implied weeks ago.
“Panini has been aggressive in the U.S market and done a phenomenal job,” said Leo Kane, Vice President of Consumer Products for the NFL. “We are pleased to make available new products to our collector fan base including Adrenalyn, and sticker and sticker albums.”
Added Panini America CEO Mark Warsop: “We are excited to have been awarded an NFL and NFLPA license. We are committed to introducing NFL trading cards to a whole new generation of NFL fans and building new collectors. The NFL is one of sports’ premier properties, and we are enthusiastic about introducing NFL trading cards on a global level.”
Following Prestige, Panini America will release Donruss Elite, Score and Panini Classics, all before NFL training camps open. The company is expected to announce in coming weeks a handful of agreements with NFL Players for stars who will serve as the face of Panini America products.
Filed under: NFL, Upper Deck | Tags: football cards, NFL, NFL Properties, Players Inc, Upper Deck, Upper Deck football
Thursday afternoon Update: The NFL declined to comment on its decision.
Upper Deck announced Wednesday evening that it will no longer be licensed to produce NFL trading cards, ending weeks of speculation about what the beleaguered manufacturer’s status for the future might be.
Filed under: Beckett Media, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL | Tags: MLB Properties, NBA, NFL Properties, NFL Trading Cards, NHL, Panini America, Players Inc, sports card licensing, Topps, Upper Deck
Topps is out of football!
Topps is out of football?
Topps is out of football.
Wow! I didn’t see that coming. Topps without a football license? That just seems . . . odd. After all, the New York-based trading card giant has produced at least one football product a year since 1955. For those counting at home, that’s 55 consecutive seasons.
Look, it’s all the rage these days for licensing entities to trim manufacturers from the mix in the name of bettering a battered business (see the NHL and Upper Deck, MLB Properties and Topps, the NBA and Panini, the CLC and UD, etc.); and the fact that Players Inc was planning to reduce the number of football players had been rumored for months. So the finality of that Monday-afternoon announcement surprised no one.
It was the cut player’s identity that seemed so shocking.
Filed under: Beckett Media, NFL, Panini, Topps, Upper Deck | Tags: NFL Properties, NFL Trading Cards, Panini, Players Inc, Sports licensing, Topps, Upper Deck
Players Inc, the marketing and licensing arm of the NFL Players Association, confirmed on Monday afternoon that it will not renew Topps’ trading card license for 2010.
The move to reduce football manufacturers has been rumored for months and will take place officially when Players Inc’s current agreements with Panini, Topps and Upper Deck expire at the end of February.
Multiple attempts to contact NFL Properties regarding its plans for 2010 and beyond have so far been unsuccessful.
Players Inc’s decision to move forward with just Panini and Upper Deck comes after months of thorough investigation and evaluation of a current football card marketplace still reeling from the troubled economy. The move also represents the latest bombshell in a continued streamlining of the overall sports collectibles industry that has seemingly seen a life’s worth of monumental licensing changes in 2009 alone.
Topps officials were not immediately available for comment. Just three months ago, Topps secured a Major League Baseball Properties exclusive beginning next season.
Stay tuned to Beckett.com for additional details on this breaking story.
— Tracy Hackler
The Beckett Blog 