USA BASEBALL AND PANINI AMERICA USHER IN A NEW ERA WITH THIRD PARTNERSHIP EXTENSION

Latest extension introduces USA Baseball to Panini Instant, and increases memorabilia offerings to collectors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12, 2025

Contact: USA Baseball: Brad Young – [email protected], (919) 474-8721 x212

Panini America: [email protected]

CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball and Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, today announced a third extension of their exclusive licensing agreement that originated in 2012. The renewed deal ushers in a new era of partnership between the two organizations, featuring a significant expansion of rights and content and a shared commitment to feature the national governing body and its athletes in Panini America’s baseball products lineup. The extension also reaffirms Panini America’s position as the Official Baseball Card of USA Baseball.

Panini America retains exclusive trading card rights to all USA Baseball marks, including the Collegiate, 18U, and 15U National Teams, as well as the organization’s National Team Development Programs. For the first time ever, the agreement also includes rights to the USA Baseball Women’s National Team, paving the way for the creation of first-of-its-kind products celebrating women in baseball. Panini America now also holds rights to the 12U National Team, whose program began in 2012 and is already producing stars in professional baseball, including Pete Crow-Armstrong, Paul Skenes, and Anthony Volpe.

Additionally, the partnership will allow Panini America to heighten its presence around the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award. Following a successful 2024 campaign tied to the announcement of Golden Spikes Award winner Charlie Condon at the College World Series in Omaha, Panini America will once again be on-site in 2025 to celebrate the award, distributing a limited-edition card pack in the lead-up to the announcement on Saturday, June 21.

“For fourteen years, Panini America and USA Baseball have collaborated to provide unparalleled early access to cards of the game’s next generation of stars,” said USA Baseball Chief Operating Officer David Perkins. “With today’s announcement, we are pleased to continue our partnership, and now also capture and deliver USA Baseball’s national team players, gold medals, and other defining moments for the organization to Panini Instant.”

This partnership extension will also mark the debut of USA Baseball on Panini Instant, the industry’s leading direct-to-consumer platform, which allows fans to collect exclusive trading cards on demand tied to standout performances and highlights from national team players for a limited time. While innovative products are key to the agreement, the collector and fan favorites, USA Baseball Factory Set and the annual Stars & Stripes program, will remain in the product lineup. Both will continue to be produced by Panini America.

“We are excited to extend our partnership with USA Baseball, the evolution of our relationship to incorporate products including Panini Instant to new initiatives including expanding to cover USA Baseball Women’s National Team make this next phase special as we are able to celebrate and incorporate all USA Baseball players,” said Mark Warsop, CEO of Panini America.

Beginning this summer, fans will see a brand-new feature on the fields at the National Training Complex during national team games: Panini America-branded on-deck circles. More than just a symbolic celebration of the partnership between the two organizations, these additions represent an expansion of the already extensive lineup of game-used memorabilia featured in USA Baseball products. Alongside player-worn jerseys, which will continue to proudly feature Panini America logo patches, these on-deck circles will eventually make their way onto cards, delivering a new piece of memorabilia to fans.

Since the inception of the partnership in 2012, 212 USA Baseball alumni have been first round selections, including 10 overall No. 1 picks: Mark Appel (2013), Brady Aiken (2014), Dansby Swanson (2015), Mickey Moniak (2016), Royce Lewis (2017), Casey Mize (2018), Adley Rutschman (2019), Spencer Torkelson (2020), Jackson Holliday (2022), and Skenes (2023)—showcasing USA Baseball’s unique ability to deliver the game’s future brightest stars to collectors and the trading card industry. In its history, 586 total Team USA alumni have been selected in the first round after playing for USA Baseball since 1972, and 36 of the No. 1 overall picks in that span have worn the red, white, and blue.

About USA Baseball

Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, USA Baseball serves as the national governing body for baseball in the United States. Since 1978, the organization has been dedicated to Leading the Growth of Our Pastime’s Future, supporting and protecting the game for its 15.6 million participants nationwide. A proud member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), USA Baseball’s national teams have earned 70 gold medals in international competition, including two Olympic gold medals and a World Baseball Classic title. Beyond competition, USA Baseball champions the sport’s growth and well-being through initiatives such as BASE (Baseball Athlete Safety Education), Fun At Bat, Pitch Smart, PLAY BALL, the Prospect Development Pipeline, and USABat. Additionally, it recognizes the nation’s top amateur baseball player each year with the prestigious Golden Spikes Award. For more information about USA Baseball, its national teams, or its development initiatives, visit USABaseball.com or USABDevelops.com.

About Panini America

Panini America is a subsidiary of The Panini Group, established over 60 years ago in Modena, Italy with 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, NBPA, NASCAR, FIFA, LIV Golf, the Professional Fighters League, College, 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, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Elite 11 and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc.

Panini has distribution channels in more than 150 countries and employs a staff of over 1,200. For more information visit us at www.paniniamerica.net, www.paninigroup.com or
http://blog.paniniamerica.net/. You can also follow Panini America on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.