But the biggest news in the baseball card world this week was the report from the Wall Street Journal that Topps will lose their official licence to produce baseball cards when their current deal expires in 2025.
Fanatics - who have primarily been known as a retail outlet for licenced sportswear - signed a deal to become the official MLB card manufacturer which is worth 10 times more than any previous deal, according to the head of the MLB Player's Association (MLBPA).
There's a lot to break down here, not least the question of what this will mean for Topps in the future.
But first we need to make important distinction between agreements made by MLB and those made by MLBPA. MLB issues licences for other organisations to use the imagery associated with the teams; team logos, team nicknames, etc. The MLBPA can issue licences to use player names and images.
At present, Topps has licences with both MLB and the MLBPA. Panini has an agreement with only the MLBPA, which is why their cards don't have any team logos on them.
Fanatics will gain their MLBPA licence in 2023 and their MLB licence in 2025 when their current deals with Topps come to an end.
So what does this mean for the future of the hobby?
Fanatics are a giant in the sports world and are valued at a gigantic $18 billion. It's possible that they seek to acquire Topps or another card company, which is something that they have done before.
Fanatics won the rights to sell MLB licenced apparel in 2017 and within months they had bought the previous holder of the licence; Majestic.
Looking further ahead though, if neither Topps nor Panini become part of the Fanatics organisation, they won't have a place in the baseball card landscape when their licences expire.
That would be a real shame, especially for Topps, as they have been a staple within the hobby since the early 1950's. They had been planning to go public in April but has since collapsed following the news of the Fanatics deal.
The potential lack of competition is a concern to some as well, although it could be argued that is the case right now too.
Fanatics has been aggressive in building their portfolio and have been massively successful to date. Will this continue as they move into producing baseball cards? Probably.
We just hope that this doesn't result in Topps becoming a brand of the past.
Comments