Panini Blog Panini America Issues Statement Regarding NHL/NHLPA Licensing Situation

[Panini Blog]

Panini America, the global leader in licensed sports and entertainment collectibles, issued the following statement Thursday afternoon in regard to the NHL/NHLPA license.

“We are disappointed to learn of the NHL and NHLPA’s decision to go in another direction in the trading card category,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “During the term of our agreement we faced many challenges, including a late start to the agreement and an NHL work stoppage. Through all of the challenges we established trading card hockey brands that collectors came to love and look forward to, including Dominion, Prime, Rookie Anthology, Limited and Totally Certified. Our marketing is unprecedented in the category, including activation and marketing support around the global NHL Premiere Games, the two All-Star Games that were played during our four-year agreement, Winter Classic, Heritage Classic, NHL Faceoff, NHL Draft, Stanley Cup and this year’s outdoor NHL Stadium Series. Our commitment and investment with NHL Teams and individual NHL Players to produce great Panini Hockey trading card products is unsurpassed in the trading card category and will continue to be until our license expires on June 30.

“While we never like to lose a license that we were committed to, this decision gives us the opportunity to further enhance our other sports licensed products. We’ll continue to innovate and grow the trading card category for the NBA, NFL/NFLPA, MLBPA, 2014 FIFA World Cup and expand our strategic initiatives in these core sports on a global level.”

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[Lazlow]

Well that sucks, but lets not kid ourselves Panini have had a rocky journey. Dominion has fallen a long way from where it started, Prime has only had two editions and the first didn't exactly yield great returns, Limited was never well received and doesn't hold its value, and Totally Certified has only come out this season as a rebranded Certified. Not to mention the abundance of redemptions.

And there in lies the problem Panini fantastically pushed the market and brough some fresh ideas, but this also lead to a lot of tinkering with the seasonal product range and collectors were never entirely sure of what they were going to get.

At least with Upper Deck there's some familiarity, Series 1 & 2, the SP range, The Cup, collectors know what to expect and how they are valued in the market.

Don't get me wrong though, I've loved some of their products and have often favored their designs, often Upper Deck's looked drab and bland in comparison.

Be interesting where Upper Deck go from here. The market won't be as flooded with product but that leaves discerning collectors with fewer choices.