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Caitlin Clark Signs Exclusive Partnership with Panini

NCAA's all-time leading scorer is brand's first exclusive female athlete, includes trading cards and autographed memorabilia

Michael Ehrlich

Caitlin Clark Signs Exclusive Partnership with Panini
Caitlin Clark Signs Exclusive Partnership with Panini /
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Fresh off of making NCAA history - setting the all-time scoring mark on Sunday - Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark adds another first to her growing resume. The expected repeat-National Player of the Year has signed an exclusive multi-year partnership with Panini America that includes trading cards and autographed memorabilia, becoming the brand's first exclusive partnership with a female athlete that includes both.

Clark, who recently made trading card history with her Topps 2022 Bowman U Basketball card becoming the most expensive women's basketball card ever, will now be exclusively featured on Panini cards starting April 1. Her memorabilia exclusivity begins immediately.

“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 said in a statement.

The first Panini products featuring Clark will be a collection of multiple cards celebrating different points in her career, including her first Panini Instant Card celebrating the moment she became the all-time leading scorer in women’s college basketball. Panini will also release a dedicated Caitlin Clark trading card product that will be available for pre-order beginning in April.

“Caitlin is a generational talent, and it is natural that she should be our first multi-year exclusive female athlete,” said Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relations. “We’ll have a range of products and memorabilia featuring Caitlin that we believe fans will love.”

Panini joins a robust NIL roster for Clark - represented by Excel Sports Management - that includes Nike, Gatorade, State Farm, Bose, among others.

Clark - who now owns the NCAA's all-time scoring record with 3,685 career points -  recently announced that she will enter the 2024 WNBA Draft, where she is expected to be the top selection of the Indiana Fever. 

Until then, Clark and Iowa have the Big Ten Tournament in front of them followed by the NCAA Tournament, where they hope to avenge their runner-up finish to LSU a season ago.

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Michael Ehrlich
MICHAEL EHRLICH

Michael Ehrlich is a seasoned sports marketing executive with experience across the global sports brand, athlete representation, media and education sides of the business. The Founder and CEO of Playbook Marketing, Ehrlich consults with brands on all things NIL and athlete partnerships, advises student-athletes on their personal brand building endeavors and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Southern California where he teaches a course on athlete communications and marketing. As a writer, his previous bylines include Boardroom, Business of College Sports, DIME Magazine and UPROXX, among others. You can follow him across social media at @MichaelEhrlich and reach out via michael@playbook-marketing.com

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