Press Release USA Baseball
New multi-year trading card pact grants Panini America exclusive rights to USA Baseball marks and National Team players
DURHAM, N.C. — USA Baseball and Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, announced today that Panini America has reached an exclusive multi-year trading card agreement with USA Baseball beginning with the 2012 season.
The deal makes Panini America the Official Baseball Card of USA Baseball and grants Panini America exclusive trading card category rights to all USA Baseball marks as well as the annual Collegiate, 18U and 15U National Teams.
Panini America will incorporate members of the 2012 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team into 2012 Prime Cuts in October and will include members of the 18U and 15U National Teams in 2012 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Baseball in December. Both products will include autographs and game-used equipment cards from the team members.
The annual USA Baseball National Teams Box Set will join Panini America’s portfolio of baseball products with the 2012 product scheduled for release on or near “Black Friday” in November. The 2012 box set will feature all 62 members of the 2012 USA Baseball National Teams and will return to a hobby-only distribution plan.
“Some of the greatest players of all time made their marks with USA Baseball long before they made their marks as professional players,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “This new agreement gives us the exclusive opportunity to introduce fans and collectors to tomorrow’s stars.”
“Panini America has already shown they are as passionate about the USA Baseball brand as we are, and we know its passion will show in the products it manufactures with USA Baseball’s National Team players,” said USA Baseball COO David Perkins. “We are thrilled to be working with Panini America to bring our pastime’s future to collectors and fans.”
This latest agreement continues to significantly bolster Panini America’s leadership presence in baseball and comes on the heels of the company securing a trading card license with Major League Baseball Players Association in September and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in February.
Panini America is the only company in the world that manufactures licensed trading cards and stickers for the NBA, NFL, NFL PLAYERS, NHL, NHLPA, MLBPA and FIFA World Cup. The company also has exclusive relationships with USA Basketball and the U.S. Soccer Women’s Team. In addition Panini also has relationships with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and owns exclusive entertainment licenses with Disney, Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson, and more than 600 global licenses with other sports and entertainment properties.
About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, World Cup and Pan American teams (and all other USA Baseball professional teams); and the Collegiate, 18U, 15U, and Women’s National Teams, all of which participate in various domestic and international competitions each year. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit USABaseball.com and GoldenSpikesAward.com.
About Panini
The Panini Group, established almost 50 years ago in Modena, Italy, has subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States. Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles and is the most significant publisher of collectibles in the U.S., with official licenses for MLBPA, NBA, NFL, NHL, FIFA, Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. and other key properties from many other licensors. Panini has distribution channels in more than 100 countries and employs a staff of over 800. For more information visit us at www.paniniamerica.net, www.paninigroup.com or www.paniniamerica.wordpress.com. You can also follow Panini America on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and on YouTube.
