State of the Nation: Sports

Sports day

Inset: IMG is on board in Southeast Asia for FC Barcelona..

With so many major sporting events taking place this year, the stage is set for a bumper 12 months for the licensed sports category. LSB rounds up some recent highlights.

Fanatics adds Topps

Ambitious Fanatics has acquired Topps trading cards and collectables business. The acquisition of Topps’ sports and entertainment division includes all parts of its worldwide trading cards and collectables business – both the physical and digital divisions – which sells in more than 100 countries and has physical operations in 10 countries including the UK, Germany, Brazil, Italy and Japan. The Topps brand will now be the foundation of Fanatics Trading Cards business – which launched in 2021 after the company secured exclusive, long-term trading cards rights from several sports leagues and players associations. These include Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Football League Players Association among others. The addition of Topps – which also has rights with Major League Soccer, Formula 1, UEFA and Bundesliga – significantly accelerates the build out of the Fanatics Trading Cards business.

IMG scores with FC Barcelona

Five-time UEFA Champions League winning football club FC Barcelona has appointed IMG as its master licensee in Southeast Asia to develop a consumer products programme for fans in the region. Part of the club’s broader merchandising strategy and evolution into a global lifestyle brand, the multi-year deal will see IMG focus on lifestyle and fashion apparel, accessories, luggage and bags, gift and novelty, homeware and textiles, plus digital and tech product categories.

Left: The Topps brand will now be the foundation of Fanatics’ trading card business. Below: Sales of Premier League Adrenalyn trading cards doubled domestically in 2021.

Premier move for Panini

Panini and The Premier League have secured a further multi-year extension to the Premier League collectables licence, which was granted to Panini in 2019. Domestically, sales of Premier League Adrenalyn trading cards doubled in 2021 to confirm Adrenalyn as the market-leading brand for trading cards in the UK. The company has also established the Panini sticker album brand as the number one collectable in the UK, with Premier League sticker sales last season climbing to the highest level for 15 years, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Internationally, Premier League collectables are at an all-time high as Panini leverages the strength of the Premier League brand worldwide thanks to its global network. “We are proud to be awarded the most prestigious licence in the UK, and we relish the prospect of continuing to grow the market in the coming years,” commented Mike Riddell, UK md at Panini.

THE ONLY AWARDS TOTALLY DEDICATED TO AWARD BRAND AND LIFESTYLE LICENSING

THE AWARDS ARE NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES. THEY ARE FREE TO ENTER AND DONE SO ENTIRELY ONLINE DEADLINE FOR ENTRY IS 8 MARCH 2022 The 2022 winners will be unveiled on Wednesday 27 April 2022 A lavish afternoon event at Hilton Park Lane, London The B&LLAs bring together retailers, licensees, brand owners and representatives to celebrate excellence in brand and lifestyle licensing.

For information on reserving tickets or tables to the event, please contact: Clare Hollick at Createvents Ltd using clare@createvents.co.uk or calling +44(0)1183 340085 For information on sponsorship or any other enquiries please contact: Ian Hyder, Joint MD of Max Publishing on +44 (0)7525 634306 ianh@max-publishing.co.uk