The Panini Group Extends NBA Partnership with New Multiyear Exclusive Agreement

The National Basketball Association and the Panini Group -- the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company -- today announced an extension of their partnership through a new multiyear agreement. Under the terms of the new agreement, Panini will continue to be the exclusive trading card and sticker partner for the NBA globally, expanding its current development and distribution of trading cards and products worldwide, with a particular focus on China. The relationship will be managed by the Panini Group’s U.S. subsidiary, Panini America.

The National Basketball Association and the Panini Group — the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company — today announced an extension of their partnership through a new multiyear agreement. Under the terms of the new agreement, Panini will continue to be the exclusive trading card and sticker partner for the NBA globally, expanding its current development and distribution of trading cards and products worldwide, with a particular focus on China.

The relationship will be managed by the Panini Group’s U.S. subsidiary, Panini America.

This renewal reinforces Panini’s unparalleled position as the only company in the world to manufacture official trading cards and stickers for the NBA, NFL, NFLPA, NHL, NHLPA, MLBPA, and FIFA World Cup. Panini’s array of NBA products, which include National Treasures and Prestige, is designed to attract new and existing collectors, and to establish a high-end marketplace for NBA trading cards and related products domestically and internationally.

“Our companies share a collective interest in promoting our brands worldwide,” said Sal Larocca, NBA Executive Vice President Global Merchandising Group. “Panini has continually demonstrated the ability and commitment to creating products that appeal to our fans on a global basis.”

“The popularity of the NBA game globally is unmatched and, with new NBA superstars emerging, it’s an exciting time to collect NBA trading cards, which are not only fun but highly sought after in the secondary trading card market,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “In the last three years, there has not been a more valuable modern-day trading card than our National Treasures NBA product that included a 1-of-1 Blake Griffin NBA Logoman Rookie card that sold on the secondary market for $38,000.

“This new long-term agreement with the NBA serves as the foundation to our future growth and our long-term commitment to the trading card category.”

The Panini Group has exclusive relationships with some of the NBA’s most recognizable players, including five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers. In May of this year, Panini Authentic, Panini’s memorabilia division, signed the Dallas Mavericks as its first exclusive game-worn team partner. Panini also has exclusive relationships with USA Basketball, USA Baseball, the U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Disney, Hello Kitty, Justin Bieber, One Direction and Michael Jackson and more than 600 global licenses with other sports and entertainment properties.

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34 Replies to “The Panini Group Extends NBA Partnership with New Multiyear Exclusive Agreement”

  1. Great Jon Panini!!! Congrats you guys! Just another reason and more proof that Panini is the BEST in the business!!

  2. Congratulations on the agreement! My only concern is where it mentions the China market. I lived through the Pokemon craze there and saw the damage bootleg cards can do to a hobby. What will Panini do to reduce the potential for counterfeit cards being produced by bootleggers in China and being sold as real? And for that matter, protecting the less-valuable hits from being artificially upgraded and ruining set building opportunities for dedicated collectors?

  3. Great move and I see great future for Panini and collectors!
    We love that the cards we collect have professional uniforms instead of amateur uniforms in them. This is the NBA the highest level of basketball, fans and collectors deserve the highest level of cards too.
    Professional uniforms on the players, NBA uniforms looks really good.
    Tracy we are missing so much on the logo man. Any updates on that would be awesome.
    The threads are really awesome product!
    Love it.
    The buzz on the prizm is so much…
    Keep up the great work!

  4. Congrats on the new Multiyear Exclusive agreement. I have an off topic question. Any information with regards to the Panini Basketball RC draft that is supposed to happen today? Thank you.

  5. Congrats to Panini for extending their license but this is a huge loss to the collectors who await for the return of Topps and UD. It’d be nice if there’d be more variety and competition between all 3 companies. This would push them to release their products with the utmost detail and care. I for one am not a Panini hater but there’s a reason why most collectors would prefer UD and Topps products.

  6. Congratulations on this great accomplishment and reaching a new deal with the NBA; however, I am not a fan of this agreement because I want the basketball card hobby to have more competition and manufacturers’ to produce quality cards for collectors. Competition is not only good for the collector, but in general, it is good for the hobby. I commend Panini for doing a great job with producing quality cards, especially with 11-12 & 12-13 basketball products, but more competition in the market will make the basketball card hobby more exciting.

  7. I have to agree with Herbie’s & Roger’s comments about the desire for competition in the NBA sports card arena. I also am not a Panini hater but have enjoyed (over the years) busting Topps, Fleer & UD products. I think it keeps every other producer sharp. I am sure Panini would be bummed out if they faced a monoply when trying to buy card stock or pack crimpers, etc. Same thing goes for us collectors who can only buy Panini products if we want NBA-licensed cards. I think the NBA has made another mistake in extending Panini’s exclusive deal….. as with most things, it must have come down to $$$$. Sigh.

  8. Don’t think there was ever a doubt this would happen, well done guys! Although I think you made a typo in the release surely you meant “Australia” not “China” :p

  9. As a Chinese aussie collector, I have to say China is not a good choice at this moment especially if you are looking for long term profit. Its second hand market is almost dead. I believe aussie collectors deserve a focus from Panini. We have balanced market and passion on trading cards. However, the price from 2nd level distributors and the shipping cost are killing us. We usually pay 130-140% of original price.

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