SPORTS CARD FANATICS
Derek Grady claims his wife doesn’t know anything about trading cards, but she had a question for him: “Is Topps really going to stop producing baseball cards?”
Grady, Heritage Auctions’ vice president of sports auctions, couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I was like, ‘You have heard this? You noticed it’s Topps?’ So, it just shows you that this is major news that Topps won’t be producing baseball cards anymore. I think it hit everybody.”
News that Fanatics, the world’s largest producer of licensed sports merchandise, has secured the rights to produce officially licensed baseball cards sent shock-waves through the sports collecting community. Topps is celebrating its 70th year of producing baseball cards and has held the exclusive rights from MLB since 2009.
The deal means that Topps, the most recognizable card brand in the industry, will no longer be allowed to produce officially licensed baseball cards once its current deals with Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association end. Fanatics, an $18 billion company, swooped in and was granted the exclusive MLB and MLBPA licensing rights for a new trading card company it plans to form.
In parallel moves, Fanatics has also reportedly acquired the sole licenses for the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association as well as the NFL Players Association. Panini has held the exclusive basketball contract since 2009 and football since 2016. Having a league license allows Fanatics to add team logos and league trademarks to its cards.
Fanatics’ MLBPA license starts in 2023 and the official MLB license begins in 2026. The NBA, NBPA and NFLPA deals will all start in 2026. It is not yet known if the NFL has granted Fanatics an exclusive deal.
