Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the exclusive trading card manufacturer of the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced today that it has reached an exclusive multiyear trading card, autograph and memorabilia agreement with Washington Wizards guard John Wall. Wall’s trading cards and autographed cards will be featured exclusively in Panini America’s officially licensed NBA and University of Kentucky trading card products; the star’s autographed memorabilia will be available exclusively through Panini Authentic.
Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the exclusive trading card manufacturer of the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced today that it has reached an exclusive multiyear trading card, autograph and memorabilia agreement with Washington Wizards guard John Wall. Wall’s trading cards and autographed cards will be featured exclusively in Panini America’s officially licensed NBA and University of Kentucky trading card products; the star’s autographed memorabilia will be available exclusively through Panini Authentic.
As part of the agreement, Wall, the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft, will be featured on the company’s packaging and will be involved in Panini marketing and social media initiatives throughout the length of the agreement. The pact also marks Wall’s return to the Panini America family. He previously worked with Panini America on an exclusive basis during the first two years of his career.
“John Wall is one of the most exciting young players in the NBA and we’ve been fortunate to work with him in the past; having a player of John’s stature return to our team in such a meaningful way not only adds more excitement and potential to our product offerings, it also reinforces our long-term commitment to the NBA category,” said Mark Warsop, Panini America CEO.
Wall joins a team of exclusive Panini NBA spokesmen that includes Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Kyrie Irving.
During the first four years of his NBA career, Wall has averaged more than 17 points and eight assists per game, earning his first NBA All-Star Game nod last season, where he won Dunker of the Night honors in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
“Panini America is a true innovator in the trading card arena; I know that firsthand,” Wall said. “I’ve always enjoyed working with them and I am thrilled to be back on Team Panini exclusively.”
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Another major name added to the stable of athletes under the Panini banner, great news. Thanks Tracy!
As a regular collector, I’m not understanding the “need” for an exclusive deal with an individual athlete when Panini has an exclusive deal with the NBA and all the athletes under the NBA umbrella. Must be costly……. so………why bother?
We do have an exclusive with the NBA, but not as it relates to autographs of all of its players. You may recall the Damian Lillard rookie-year issues.
Now you should give away an auto basketball of his like you did with Anthony Davis recently. Wink wink
Great to hear. Wall is one of the most fan-friendly stars in the league. Seems like he’s always signing when not on the court playing or practicing. Great to see him get a deal like this that will continue to increase his exposure.