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Topps has been synonymous with trading cards, especially baseball cards, for 70 years.
That period will soon be over. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Player’s Association are terminating their licensing agreement with Topps in favor of a deal with up-and-coming sports collectibles brand Fanatics. The loss of baseball rights prompted the abrupt cancellation of Topps’ plan to go public on Friday, prompting him to question his future.
The company, which also owns the bazooka gum, Announced a deal in April Merger with a special purpose buyout or SPAC managed by Mudrick Capital. The $1.3 billion merger will go to a shareholder vote next week.
Topps and Mudrick announced Friday morning that the deal was canceled, the day after it was reported that their baseball contract for player images and 2025 team logos controlled by the players association would not be renewed when they expire in 2022. controlled by MLB
Topps was owned by former Walt Disney Company chairman Michael Eisner’s investment firm Tornante and private equity firm Madison Dearborn. 385 million dollars.
fanatics, last value of $18 billionis leveraging its ties with major sports league teams to expand. beyond hats, hoodies and other branded products. In June, he founded a digital collectibles company called Candy Digital, which has partnered with MLB. a set of immutable tokens. Fanatics has also caught a number of executives from sports teams, gambling companies and technology companies considering expanding into ticketing, betting and gambling.
The baseball deal reflects fanatics’ growth ambitions and is entering the baseball card market at a time when its popularity is booming, amid growing attention from runaway merchants and digital investors buying NFTs.
Fans will start a new trading card company and give union seats on both MLB and players’ boards, said a person familiar with the plans and speaking on condition of anonymity as these plans are not yet publicly available. The syndicate and MLB will take a stake in the company and will transition from licensing those images to owning part of the company that monetizes their members’ images. Sports unions in recent years strengthened its commercial weapons to help players earn more than their likeness.
Fanatics might consider buying one of the three big card companies that are on the cusp of new licensing deals: Panini, Upper Deck or Topps, someone familiar with the company’s thinking. This will reflect its strategy with apparel company Majestic. Acquired After winning the rights to make uniforms for MLB, which Majestic had previously.
Kevin Draper and efrat livni contributing reporting.
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