Panini America releases trading cards featuring top 2024 WNBA Draft picks
With the WNBA season around the corner, Panini America is capitalizing with a trading card release featuring multiple top draft picks.
The top five picks in this month’s WNBA Draft – Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson and Jacy Sheldon – all received official cards with their jersey photos from draft night. No. 7 overall pick Angel Reese, No. 8 overall selection Alissa Pili and second-rounder Nika Muhl were also part of the release.
The collection, which launched Tuesday, is available until May 7 at 3 p.m. ET or while supplies last. Prices for each card start at $9.99.
Clark is the most recognizable name from this year’s WNBA rookie class after breaking multiple records during her career at Iowa. That made her the favorite to become the No. 1 pick, and the Indiana Fever selected her atop the board, as expected.
But the talent runs deep in a draft class with perhaps more excitement than ever. Brink was an All-Pac-12 player at Stanford before going to the Los Angeles Sparks at No. 2 overall, and Cardoso won two titles in three years as she anchored the paint for South Carolina. Jackson was also an instrumental part of the Tennessee offense this season as the Vols made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Big names highlight Panini’s WNBA Draft collection
Panini America has been a key player in the NIL space since it came to be in college sports in 2021, and Clark was among its impressive list of athletes to sign an exclusive deal with the trading card company. It’s another example of a deal from her impressive NIL portfolio essentially continuing as she gets ready for her rookie year with the Indiana Fever.
Clark’s biggest deal after wrapping up her college career, though, came earlier this month. Nike is preparing to give her a signature sneaker as part of a lucrative eight-year deal worth up to $28 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. She exited college with an On3 NIL Valuation of $3.4 million and appeared poised for more success in the W, as well.
As for Reese, she also signed on with Panini before the draft, although that came together after her senior season came to an end in the NCAA Tournament. She was another key figure in the NIL landscape after helping LSU to a national championship in 2023, inking NIL deals with Topps, Reebok, Beats by Dre and SI Swimsuit over the last two seasons.
Reese left college with an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.8 million. That put her No. 8 in her final appearance in the On3 NIL 100 – the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation – before her college career ended.