NIL enters sports collectibles market, exclusive access for Quinn Ewers, other Texas Longhorns
The NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness rules have brought college athletes myriad opportunities since its inception. With the recent boom in sports trading cards and memorabilia fueled by the COVID lockdown, you’re seeing college football, baseball, and basketball players on cards across the country.
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Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers announced an exclusive NIL agreement for an autographed trading card deal with Panini America on Thursday. Ewers announced the NIL deal on Twitter, where he shared a video featuring highlights from last season, as well as him holding one of his cards, opening a pack of trading cards and signing the autographs that will be placed on the cards. Previously, Leaf Trading Cards were the trading cards featuring Ewers.
The collecting industry, or #TheHobby as noted throughout social media, is all the craze. And now you can see more Texas Longhorns on trading cards.
New market research shows that the trading card industry was worth $13 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach over $98 billion by the year 2027, according to Brandminds.com.
One of the hottest cards on the market is Bijan Robinson. While the former Texas running back had cards released with Bowman over the last two years, there’s already a demand for his NFL rookie card with the Atlanta Falcons. You can purchase one of his rare signed cards in the $50-$250 range right now, and that’s only going to increase with demand.
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The traditional wax pack where you received 10 cards and a piece of gum has been replaced with much more detailed collectibles. You can get an autograph, jersey relic where they put a piece of the player’s jersey in the card, and dual and triple autos with more than one signed player on a card. It’s taken collecting to another level.
Topps is the biggest card on the block, with sets in Bowman, Topps Chrome, Topps Finest, and Topps Stadium Club. They have exclusive deals with MLB, Mike Trout, and others. And now they’ll partner with Fanatics on licensed cards in the future.
Panini America continues to thrive in the market inking exclusive deals with Patrick Mahomes and the Kobe Bryant estate. Upper Deck is now only in the hockey card market, while Topps no longer produces football cards. Donruss only has the rights through the MLBPA, so they can produce a Yordan Alvarez card, but can’t have the Houston Astros logo on it.
It’s a new era in the trading card industry unlike anything we’ve seen. And NIL is one of the biggest reasons why. You could see college stars in their college uniforms in the late 1980s with the Pro Set series, or in the Classic trading card game sets of the early 1990. Now, that’ll be the standard.
