Panini America signs licensing deal with National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
Panini America has taken the next step toward covering all of Major League Baseball on its baseball cards as it signed a multi-year licensing deal with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Terms of the deal announced Wednesday were not disclosed but it starts immediately, allowing the Texas-based company the right to show all Hall inductees, use Hall of Fame trademarks and showcase artifact images in six baseball card sets per year. The first of those will be Prime Cuts, which arrives in March.
“The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum represents the greatest players and personalities the sport has ever known and this partnership will help us bring that level of unparalleled excellence to our products,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “The trading cards we make utilizing this license will no doubt be Hall of Fame worthy.”
This is the second baseball-related deal the company has signed since unveiling its deal with the MLB Players Association in October. It’s also the third deal with a major sports hall as it has signed agreements with the basketball and football halls as well.
“We’ve been impressed with how quickly Panini America has established its leadership position in the sports collectibles arena since coming to the U.S. in 2009, and we’re thrilled with the prospects of this relationship,” said Sean Gahagan, Retail and Licensing Vice President for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Their creativity and innovation are second to none, and we’re eager to see the new product releases for the coming year.”
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
