Fanatics Lands Trading Card Deals with Over 100 Schools, 200 Student Athletes
The Bowman University line is getting some upgrades. That’s just one of the things that collectors can expect as Fanatics Collectibles has announced their initial plans for collegiate sports cards. Not only do they have deals in place with dozens of schools, but over 200 student athletes as well.
This means fully licensed collegiate cards from Topps with current student athletes, complete with logos and uniforms are on the way.
“There are tremendous opportunities for this untapped area of the hobby and to expand further across the collegiate sports landscape,” said Derek Eiler, Executive Vice President, Fanatics College.
There are multiple layers to these deals. Some of the school deals are exclusive, some are not. Timing also comes into play as to when the various agreements kick in.
Beginning in the fall, the first such sets will arrive under non-exclusive deals with more than 100 schools. These include Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse and Iowa. These early sets will all be under Topps’ Bowman University banner.
Starting in 2023, exclusives with the majority of the Power 5 Conference Schools begin. Among them are:
- University of Georgia – 2023
- University of Kentucky – 2023
- University of Miami – 2023
- University of Oregon – 2023
- University of Wisconsin – 2023
- The University of Alabama – 2025
- Clemson University – 2025
- University of Florida – 2025
- Florida State University – 2025
- University of Kansas – 2025
- Louisiana State University – 2025
- Penn State University – 2025
- University of Tennessee – 2025
- Texas A&M University – 2025
Among the student athletes who have signed NIL deals with Fanatics are Bryce Young (Alabama), Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Bo Nix (Oregon), Caleb Williams (USC), Dereck Lively II (Duke), Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas), and Aliyah Boston (South Carolina), who was part of the school’s 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship team as well as the tournament’s MVP.
Once all of the deals are in place and operational, Topps will be producing fully licensed collegiate cards of current and past student athletes in basketball, football and baseball.
