Fans watching the first Major League Baseball games of the season will notice a little something on the jerseys worn by rookies. Early Thursday morning, Fanatics, MLB and its players delivered a joint announcement centered around those fresh faces and…baseball cards. Players appearing in their first big league games would all be wearing small “MLB Debut” patches. After the game, the patches will be removed, authenticated by MLB and used to create a 1/1 rookie card.
The patches won’t be removed from the jersey until the player sees action on the field. Players who get called up from the minor leagues during the year will all wear the patch.
“For baseball cards to be at the center of that big moment in somebody’s career, that’s important for our products and that’s important for our collectors,” Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan said.
The move is based on Fanatics’ pledge to innovate around the trading card space. The company purchased The Topps Company’s card making business in January of last year.
“Debut Patches represent one of the first steps that Fanatics Collectibles is taking to bring the players and leagues closer to the products, and ultimately fans,” Mahan said. “As a trusted partner of the league and players association, we are honored to partner closely with MLB and MLB Players Inc., to create this innovative, first-of-its kind program, and are committed to continue developing unique experiences for all fans and collectors. We believe that this is the most innovative product innovation in at least a generation.”
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred called it “crucial to the development of deeper fan engagement.”
Fanatics didn’t indicate which product or products would contain the rookie debut patch cards but given the company’s impending live ecommerce platform, it seems likely they’ll be placed into traditional packs rather than sold via the print-on-demand NOW platform.
“We do think that Fanatics Live will be a big platform to consume cards and invariably, some of these big debut patch cards will be opened on the Fanatics Live platform and that will be exciting,” Mahan told Fast Company.
Made for the moment. We’ve partnered to create the ultimate rookie card!
Starting today, every player making their @MLB debut will wear an “MLB Debut” patch on their uniform for their first game. That patch will then be used to create the ultimate 1/1 rookie card! pic.twitter.com/4Vwoynb4YX
— Topps (@Topps) March 30, 2023
Undoubtedly, the patches will be a discussion topic for broadcast crews and baseball writers, which Fanatics hopes will spur interest in the company’s trading cards amongst the general public. Expanding the pool of fans who become collectors has been a long stated goal for Fanatics, which spent roughly $500 million to acquire Topps according to financial media outlets.
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