College-branded trading cards are nothing new, but cards featuring current college stars that include logos are coming as part of a new deal hammered out by Fanatics Collectibles and its Topps brand.
The far reaching deal will eventually include nearly 150 of the nation’s top colleges and over 200 male and female student-athletes across multiple sports.
Beginning this fall, Fanatics and Topps will release the first sets of college football and basketball cards with more than 100 of those schools under the BowmanU brand and including both current and former athletes. The deals won’t all be exclusive, meaning other card companies will still be able to strike their own agreements, albeit without school logos.
As the program expands beginning in 2023, look for Topps-branded college focused products to arrive.
“Fanatics has been closely monitoring the ever-evolving NIL landscape, and we felt this was the perfect time to launch multiple, strategic college trading card programs that will allow schools and current student-athletes to create new levels of direct engagement with fans across hundreds of the top programs nationwide,” stated Derek Eiler, Executive Vice President, Fanatics College. “There are tremendous opportunities for this untapped area of the hobby and to expand further across the collegiate sports landscape.”
Fanatics Collectibles will have exclusive rights to more than 35 major programs including most Power Five schools. Their deals with other schools will be non-exclusive. As they did with Panini America several years ago, College licensing agency CLC arranged the trading card licensing elements on behalf of most of the participating universities.
Fanatics/Topps has secured NIL trading cards rights with nearly 200 student athletes across college football and basketball, including 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young (Alabama), CFP National Champion winning QB Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Bo Nix (Oregon), Caleb Williams (USC) and highly touted incoming men’s basketball players Dereck Lively II (Duke) and Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas). Topps has also signed several premier women’s college basketball stars, including the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champion and Tournament Most Outstanding Player Aliyah Boston (South Carolina).
“This collection is the first offering of officially licensed collegiate cards featuring current athlete NIL rights. We’re thrilled at the opportunity to launch these comprehensive programs that combine premier student-athletes and elite institutions to create a best-in-class collegiate trading card product for fans and collectors,” remarked Dave Leiner, Topps Global Vice President and General Manager.
With Topps now functioning as the driver, it’s possible we could see on-demand cards of players following their on-field performances under the Topps NOW brand.
“So if Oklahoma softball star Jocelyn Alo hits a home run and (Oklahoma) wins the Women’s College World Series in the next couple of days, we technically could go produce a card for her digitally and make it immediately available to consumers,” Eiler told Sportico.
The move is the latest in Fanatics’ power move to gobble up trading card licenses across the sports landscape. Fanatics Collectibles was launched in 2021, after securing exclusive, long-term trading cards rights from multiple pro sports leagues and players unions. In January, Fanatics acquired Topps.
The deals with the athletes could form a foundation for Fanatics as it continues to expand its lineup of exclusive autographed memorabilia deals for signed photos, jerseys, balls and other items.
