Caitlin Clark Signs Exclusive Multi-Year Deal With Panini America
Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has agreed to a multi-year deal with Panini America for trading cards and autographed memorabilia.
Announced Wednesday, the exclusive partnership is Panini’s first with a female athlete that includes both trading cards and memorabilia.
According to Panini America, Clark’s memorabilia exclusivity begins immediately while trading card exclusivity begins on April 1.
“Caitlin is a generational talent, and it is natural that she should be our first multi-year exclusive female athlete,” Jason Howarth, Panini America’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relations, said in a statement. “We’ll have a range of products and memorabilia featuring Caitlin that we believe fans will love.”
“It’s an honor to partner with Panini America as their first multi-year exclusive female athlete, and I’m excited to collaborate with them on my own collection,” Clark added.
Clark’s first Panini products will be a collection of cards that also includes her first Panini Instant card celebrating her becoming the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball. A dedicated release for Clark is expected to be available for pre-order in April.
Writing history every time she steps on the court.
— Panini America (@PaniniAmerica) February 23, 2024
Celebrate @CaitlinClark22, the NCAA Division I all-time women’s scoring leader, with her new Milestone Card.
Available now here: https://t.co/PxYemIToGZ#WhoDoYouCollect pic.twitter.com/vw0gHDGV8p
Considered one of the most electrifying active athletes, Clark recently broke Pete Maravich’s all-time scoring record by an NCAA Division 1 player.
A three-time AP All-American, Clark also recently announced that she’ll enter the 2024 WNBA Draft. Expected to be the No. 1 overall pick by Indiana, ticket prices for the Fever have already started to go up.
Clark is the latest college athlete to sign with Panini America amid the company’s push into NIL and college athletics.
Since launching into the NIL space in 2021, Panini has signed top college athletes like Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola and Lexi Rodriguez and Texas’ Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers.
Ewers even announced his return to the Longhorns in January with a video featuring a special autograph inscription on a Panini America trading card.
Clark’s deal with Panini America shakes up a trading card market that has seen her key rookies appear in Topps and Bowman University products.
So far, Clark’s key rookie cards have been her 2022 Bowman University and 2022/23 Bowman University Inception autographs.
Clark’s 2022 Bowman University Superfractor 1/1 Autograph PSA 10 recently set the record for most expensive women’s basketball card with a $78,000 sale through PWCC.
