An arbitration panel has ruled in favor of Panini America in its battle with the NFL Players Association over the NFLPA’s attempts to dump Panini for Fanatics.
According to Eriq Gardner of Puck.news, the arbitration ruling will pay Panini more than $7 million.
As we reported last year, the NFLPA sent a letter to its players indicating it would be ending its existing contract with Panini. The union cited the departure of several members of Panini’s management team for Fanatics as reasoning for its move. The arbitration ruling was that the decision by the NFLPA was invalid.
Front Office Sports reported that “the damage amount was determined by the lost profits Panini suffered during a 50-day span last year when the NFLPA refused to process new products for Panini to offer consumers under the agreement that runs through early 2026. Fanatics wasn’t a party to the arbitration.”
While the case has gone through the legal system, Panini has continued to make NFL trading cards under its license with the NFL and NFLPA.
Panini attorney David Boies told Gardner, “The unanimous decision of the arbitrators confirms what we have said from the beginning: The NFLPA’s termination of its contract with Panini violated its legal obligation to Panini, its moral obligation to fans and collectors, and its fiduciary duties to its members. The PA’s actions cost its members millions of dollars in damages and lost royalties. The damages would have been many times greater except for Panini’s commitment to protecting fans and collectors, and the players themselves, by continuing to supply cards despite the PA’s purported termination.”
Fanatics has partnered with the NFL, NBA and MLB and their unions for future trading card licenses and the attempt by the NFLPA was seen as an attempt to hasten that process.
Panini also filed an antitrust case against Fanatics last year for “anti-competitive conduct” and Fanatics then countersued. Both of those cases remain active.
