To a Tee: Panini America, Lakers Nation Team Up for Unique Promotion

Lakers Nation, the preeminent Los Angeles Lakers fan site on the Internet with more than 100,000 Facebook likes and seemingly that many new visitors arriving every day, is about to get into the basketball card business.

Well, sort of.

Through a unique partnership with Panini America, Lakers Nation will soon be giving customers who purchase a T-shirt from the site’s store a pack of 2010-11 Panini Prestige Basketball cards. But there’s a catch: Not everyone who orders a T-shirt will receive a Prestige pack — and that’s a good thing.

A select few T-shirt buyers — chosen completely at random — will instead receive a special Panini America Lakers certified autograph or memorabilia card.

“Like Panini America, Lakers Nation caters to some of the most passionate sports fans on the planet,” says Jason Howarth, Panini America Vice President of Marketing. “The opportunity to partner with them in our continuing effort to grow the hobby of basketball card collecting at the grass roots level is tremendous.”

Adds Lakers Nation’s Gary Lee: “Our members thoroughly enjoyed the limited chances they had to interact with Panini America’s products last season. This season, they’ll be able to do that much more extensively; and judging by early feedback, they’re absolutely thrilled.”

For more information on the promotion, click here. For a look at the randomly inserted Lakers certified autographed and memorabilia cards up for grabs through Lakers Nation, check out this gallery: