Marvin Harrison Jr. signed a multi-year licensing deal with Fanatics prior to his final year at Ohio State. Now that he’s been drafted by the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, though, the future of his trading cards and autographs appears to be in limbo.
According to ESPN, Harrison still hasn’t signed his NFL Players Inc. group licensing deal, which means he can’t appear on NFL related items nor can the Cardinals or anyone else sell Arizona jerseys with his name on the back. The report indicates Harrison is holding out for more money to renew his deal with Fanatics.
The NFLPA’s group licensing contract allow the players’ association to market players’ name, image and likeness to dozens of companies, including panini America and video games like the Madden NFL video game.
ESPN’s source indicated the contract he signed with Fanatics prior to last season included autographs, signed trading cards, game-worn apparel and other elements. Harrison appeared in Topps’ Bowman U line last season and his sticker autographs were part of the checklist.
If Harrison does sign a new deal with Fanatics, that likely means Topps will produce his cards, including autographs, in future products. For the most part, Fanatics has been doing exclusive deals which would likely mean Harrison’s autographs wouldn’t appear in Panini packs.
Last year, fellow Buckeye CJ Stroud had a Fanatics exclusive arrangement but did sign with the players association’s marketing arm, meaning Panini was able to produce cards of the Houston Texans’ rookie quarterback but only Fanatics/Topps had rights to his autographs once he suited up in the NFL. He did have cards and autographs in pre-draft products.
Harrison has a website on which he sells autographed jerseys, helmets, footballs and other items.
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