The National Football League and Panini America (paniniamerica.net), the world's largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, announced a new long-term physical and digital trading card and sticker agreement.
The agreement, which will go into effect in advance of the 2016 NFL Draft, makes Panini America the sole manufacturer of traditional trading cards and stickers licensed by the NFL and NFLPA.
"This announcement symbolizes a landmark achievement for Panini America, and we are extremely proud to be awarded the exclusive license for traditional trading cards and stickers," Panini America CEO Mark Warsop, said. "We are committed to continue building compelling products that honor and celebrate the NFL and look forward to working closely with the NFL to continue to grow the football trading card category in the U.S. and globally."The agreement also grants Panini America the non-exclusive right to produce digital trading cards through its recently released Panini Gridiron digital trading card app.
In addition, Panini America will also market and activate around the NFL's marquee events including the NFL Combine, NFL Draft, NFL Kickoff and Super Bowl to promote and grow the NFL trading card category.
"We are pleased to expand our partnership with Panini America in order to better serve NFL fans, from children opening their first packs to long-time hobby collectors. Since entering the U.S. market in 2009, they have proven to be leaders in product development, innovation and marketing, and we look forward to working together to continue to grow the football trading card category," Leo Kane, Senior Vice President, Consumer Products, National Football League, said.ABOUT PANINI:
The Panini Group, established more than 50 years ago in Modena, Italy, has subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States. Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles and is the most significant publisher of collectibles in the U.S., with official licenses for NFL, NFLPA, NBA, MLBPA, NHL, NHLPA, College, FIFA, MLBPA, Disney, and other key properties from many other licensors. Panini is also the exclusive trading card and sticker partner of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. Panini has distribution channels in more than 100 countries and employs a staff of over 800. For more information visit us at paniniamerica.net, paninigroup.com or blog.paniniamerica.net/. You can also follow Panini America on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
