Panini, Football HOF extend partnership
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor
Panini America and the Pro Football Hall of Fame are going to be partnering up for a long time.
The card company announced an extension of their exclusive relationship with the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The two entities have had a deal in place since 2010, which allows Panini to use Hall of Fame marks and logos on its trading cards and stickers. In addition, Panini will produce autograph cards honoring each new member.
“We are proud to extend our exclusive relationship with the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “The Hall of Fame’s members – newly elected and veteran members alike – represent the most-legendary, most-collected superstars in NFL history, and having them in our trading card sets and sticker collections, greatly enhances the appeal of what we do. We look forward to working with Hall of Fame executives and members of the upcoming class of enshrinees to make the most of this opportunity.”
The 2012 class of inductees include Jack Butler, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Curtis Martin and Willie Roaf. The induction ceremony will be held Aug. 4 in Canton, Ohio.
Panini will also be the presenting sponsor of all enshrinement weekend autograph sessions, which will be authenticated by Panini Authentic.
“During our first two years together, Panini America proved to be the perfect partner. They have brought new levels of innovation and creativity to the relationship and that will only intensify as we move forward,” said Steve Strawbridge, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Vice President of Merchandising/Licensing.
In 2010, the eight-card set included Russ Grimm, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Floyd Little, Rickey Jackson and Dick LeBeau.
Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.
Pretty cool but lets hope Panini keeps putting forth some effort in football cards and we should be ok