BACK TO SCHOOL

AS PANINI AND THE COLLEGIATE LICENSING COMPANY EXTEND THEIR PARTNERSHIP, COLLEGE FOOTBALL CARDS HAVE NEVER BEEN HOTTER.

Five years ago, Panini America became the exclusive licensed trading card manufacturer of more than 400 colleges and universities through an exclusive deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company. Several schoolfocused multiport sets were released, followed by 2015 Contenders Draft Picks and 2015 Prizm Draft Picks—the company’s first college-only football card products. The licensing agreement coincided with the formation of the College Football Playoff, adding even more excitement and legitimacy to college cards. Prior to 2015, the “dra picks products,” as they typically were referred to as, essentially filled the gap in the NFL card product calendar, which begins each year around late June. Panini leveraged collector-favorite brands such as Contenders, Prizm and National Treasures, including their popular parallel and insert programs, to strengthen the collegefocused products with higher quality, more variety, higher value, and a large retail presence. ey’ve also included former college legends and current NFL players pictured in their college uniforms. Top autographed Rookie Cards typically sell for several hundred dollars. And of course, the college license has been used in several NFL products. In July, Panini and the CLC announced a long-term extension of the agreement. “We’ve been impressed by the creativity, innovation and value that Panini America has delivered to our partner institutions and the collegiate space in just five short years, and we look forward to working with them as they continue pushing the category to new heights,” said Dave Kirkpatrick, CLC Vice President– Non-Apparel. “We entered this partnership on behalf of our client institutions back in 2015 with high hopes on the new direction, and we are pleased to say those expectations have been exceeded.” For 2020, Panini plans seven CLC-licensed football card products (their most ever) including Prizm Dra Picks, Contenders Dra Picks, Immaculate Collection Collegiate, National Treasures Collegiate, Flawless Collegiate, and new for this year, Chronicles Dra Picks and Obsidian Dra Picks. Prizm Dra Picks was first, and was a hot commodity on retail shelves fueled by one of the most hyped dra classes in years. COVID-19 created an unexpected delay in production and distribution of subsequent products, making Prizm Dra Picks the only 2020 licensed card option for a while, which only helped spike market activity. Chronicles, like its NFL counterpart, features designs from several other brands such as Select, Donruss Optic, Crown Royal and others. It also includes a college version of the hot Downtown case hit insert which typically is available in Donruss and Donruss Optic. “ose products have come along the way,” says Ben Ecklar, Panini Product Development Director—College. He points out that college cards have unique features that NFL cards just can’t deliver, such as autograph inscriptions unique to schools, bowl games, and even college coaches. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley has already appeared in several products with autographs. “It allows us that flexibility to have the bowl logos or the conference logos,” Ecklar added. “ose nice chase elements make those cards pop. e collecting base of certain schools will even rival the NFL when you look at the rookie cards, most brands will be the same level.”

College brands satisfy a collector base with cards of players that wouldn’t make it into NFL products, such as college legends, or players who slipped deep into or out of the NFL Dra . Phillip Lindsay and Gardner Minshew, for example, had surprise rookie seasons but were included in early college products. “We try to get as many legends of the game as we can,” Ecklar says. “Sometimes it’s a little more difficult road on the college side, especially if they didn’t go to the pros and we don’t have a history of doing deals with them. It’s cool to find some of these guys. ey are very appreciative of the deals.” Interest in college football collectibles has never been higher. Even copies of the NCAA14 video game (which released in the summer of 2013) typically sell for $120-$140 online—more than double the original price. It was the most recent licensed college football videogame, so fans are willing to shell out the money. Leaf produces cards promoting the annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl— the premier high school all-star game. Recent sets include autographs of many current college stars with some cards selling for $100 to $200. An autographed

card of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has made several Beckett Football Hot List appearances. Oklahoma redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler, who projects to start this season, has autographed cards from the 2019 set selling for up to $200. Even if they technically are high school cards, their popularity are directly tied to the players’ college careers. In a game-changing move, the NCAA in late April took an unprecedented step toward allowing college athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness. “e Board of Governors supported rule changes to allow student-athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics,” an NCAA announcement stated. “It also supports compensation for other student-athlete opportunities, such as social media, businesses they have started and personal appearances.” at doesn’t mean we will see licensed Trevor Lawrence Clemson cards or Justin Fields Ohio State cards next year. In fact, the specific guidelines prohibit current studentathletes from using the school or conference logos. “While student-athletes would be permitted to identify themselves by sport and school, the use of conference and school logos, trademarks or other involvement would not be allowed,” the statement went on to say. “e board emphasized that at no point should a university or college pay student-athletes for name, image and likeness activities.” For now, that does not open the door for licensed cards of current players. But it could provide some interesting promotional partnerships. Ecklar says Panini will wait to see how the changes unfold and what opportunities could evolve. Expect to see premier college athletes promoting products, brands, companies and perhaps their own businesses, on social media soon. Even if we don’t get cards of active college players, college football cards have carved out a category of their own that’s only getting stronger.