Topps adds gaming exec Steven Chiang to board
By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor
Topps‘ commitment to the digital world took another step Monday as it announced the hiring of Steven Chiang, a long-time video- and social-gaming executive, who was was named to the company’s board of directors.
The news was announced by Michael D. Eisner, founder of The Tornante Company.
“Steven has incredible experience in the digital space and is responsible for some of the most successful sports and free to play games in the past two decades and we are thrilled to have him on our Board of Directors,” said Andy Redman, Topps’ Chairman, in a prepared release. “We look forward to tapping into his passion and expertise as we continue to invest in Topps’ digital division and drive for accelerated growth.”
Chiang has worked in progressively responsible roles at Zynga, Electronic Arts and he co-founded Tiburon Entertainment, which was acquired by EA in 1998. Chiang has a bachelor’s of science in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, according to the company.
“Topps is one of the most-iconic companies in the world and their sports trading cards were a mainstay from my childhood,” Chiang said in a prepared statement. “I am excited to see Topps’ evolution into the digital space and honored to be joining their board and to have the opportunity to work with Topps’ dynamic leadership team.”
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
Calling It:
Topps will make this great big push to try and convince collectors that they can buy and traded digital cards just like actual cards. Which will cut all of Topps’s costs to produce actual cards and maximize profit. To bad they just can’t hired someone that actually collects cards and thinks that quality and value should be first instead of quantity and profit.
Maybe Im an old vintage card dinosaur, but why in the heck would anyone even consider collecting a cyber sports card?
So they hire someone who comes from two companies despised by the gaming community.