Topps and Mike Trout will be tied together for a long time.
The company has signed the Anaheim Angels superstar to what’s being called the “largest and longest” individual athlete contract it has ever done. Exact terms weren’t announced.
According to Sports Business Journal, the deal includes a continuation of the trading card and autograph deal Trout has with Topps, but additional in-person and social media commitments as well. Two years ago, he appeared at a private event for buyers of 2018 Topps Transcendent Baseball. Look for him to appear more frequently on Topps’ packaging, too.
“You’re looking at the biggest name in the game and we wanted to lock him up the way the Angels did when they signed him to a $430 million [on-field] contract,” said Topps’ David Leiner.
Topps signed Trout to an exclusive deal in 2014 and extended it in 2016.
Popular with fans and collectors, Trout is still only 29. Leiner told SBJ that the deal will continue as long as he is an active player. In 2018, Topps signed his Angels’ teammate, Shohei Ohtani, to a long-term card and autograph deal.
A three-time American League MVP winner and three-time runner-up, Trout also owns eight Silver Slugger awards. Topps first signed Trout when he was a teenage prospect out of Millville, NJ and his autographed 2009 Bowman Chrome prospect cards and high-grade examples of his 2011 Topps rookie cards are among the hobby’s most valuable modern era cards.
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