The license to produce stickers for the UEFA European Championship tournament and other UEFA national team competitions is moving to Topps.
The Fanatics-owned company will become UEFA’s new and official licensed partner through 2028, providing exclusive stickers, trading cards and collectibles connected to UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany as well as the 2028 men’s Euros, the 2025 women’s Euros and Nations League finals.
UEFA already partners with Fanatics for its fan shops at major UEFA tournaments and already has the trading card license for the UEFA Champions League, but Panini had been producing stickers for every national team competition since 1977.
Panini maintains its license for the 2022 World Cup, set to be held later this fall in Qatar.
Soccer stickers are a big deal with European collectors and Wednesday’s news was heavily covered by major media outlets there.
Topps has signed soccer legend José Mourinho as its EURO Ambassador to personally select the players that will be included in the Topps sticker albums. In a humorous campaign film released Wednesday, Mourinho is presented as the official Sticker Manager of all the national teams for Topps and the Road to UEFA EURO 2024 collections.
Within the partnership announcement spot, Topps helps Mourinho – who has won almost everything while coaching an array of Europe’s elite clubs – accomplish the one thing missing from his glittering career: managing a national team – or at least selecting the players of the national teams that will be included in the Topps sticker album.
“The European Championship is the biggest and most prestigious football event on a national level in Europe, recognized globally, with its very own legacy when it comes to stickers, trading cards and collectibles,” stated Mark Catlin, General Manager International Sports & Entertainment of The Topps Company. “We are naturally extremely happy to be the official partner of UEFA through to 2028, offering our community and football fans throughout the World, the premier national players, teams and the greatest of European footballing moments. The announcement of this partnership is a huge step and there is so much more to come on our road to EURO 2024 and beyond.”
How much Topps paid in its new deal hasn’t been disclosed.
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