Panini America and Beckett Media Team Up to Rank Most Collectible NBA Franchises

Panini America, the world leader in licensed sports and entertainment collectibles and the exclusive trading card partner of the NBA and NBA Players, and Beckett Media, the leading authority for news and pricing related to the sports card industry, today announced a partnership for a unique program called “30 Teams/30 Weeks” that will run through the rest of the NBA season and rank the NBA’s 30 most collectible franchises.

The method for determining the rankings was based on a variety of factors, including championships, MVPs, career winning percentage, trading card values, trading card quantities and more. The highly-anticipated series tips off the week of November 19 with the No. 30 team and will countdown week-by-week to the No. 1 team, which will be unveiled the week of June 10.

For each team in the countdown, industry experts from Panini America and Beckett Media will identify seven historically significant trading cards (five “starters” and two others that could include bench players or head coaches), and will support the initiative with a dedicated website, traditional and social media promotion and player interaction in local markets.

“The 30 Teams in 30 Weeks initiative is a season-long celebration of the greatest NBA teams, players and trading cards of all time and highlights the continued growth and popularity of NBA trading cards here in the U.S. and abroad,” said Jason Howarth, Panini America Vice President of Marketing.

“NBA trading cards have been a part of the collecting landscape for more than 60 years, and are an important historical benchmark to the league’s growth,” said Mike Payne, Beckett Media Editorial Director. “This is a great opportunity to explore classic trading cards and discover newer cards and what they mean to the league, teams and collectors.”

“This is a massive undertaking that takes an incredible amount of data and turns it into a compelling rating system sure to create lots of debate and lots of interest from NBA fans and collectors across the country,” said David Porter, Senior Product Development Director of Basketball, Panini America.

Stay tuned Monday when the countdown begins.