Upper Deck Enters the NIL Space with a Focus on Gender Equity

The long-standing sports memorabilia titan has announced an NIL reimagination of The Upper Deck World of Sports series designed to highlight athletes participating in a wide range of sports

Aug 30, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; The Nebraska Cornhuskers run out of the tunnel before the match against the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

It is hard to discuss collegiate sports without mentioning the impact of NIL. During the 2023-24 academic year, NIL permeated most college sports headlines, and a deep focus was put on the NCAA's decreasing autonomy, which created instability, early coaching retirements, and massive amounts of player turnover (and wealth) in the transfer portal. Beyond these polarizing and rater-critical developments, one storyline remained relatively under the radar — the rapid growth and increased consumer demand for NIL collectibles. 

Collegiate cards, specifically limited-run first edition cards, have seen massive appraisals from collectors on the secondary market. A one-of-one Caitlin Clark Bowman NIL card sold for $78,000, and a similar on-of-one Arch Manning card broke the Panini auction record at $102,500. 

Reading the NIL climate, long-time sports memorabilia titan Upper Deck is entering the market just in time for the 2024-25 academic year with The Upper Deck World of Sports Volume 1. Upper Deck will join other major players within the sports memorabilia ecosystem, like Leaf, Topps, and Panini, who have attempted to secure a foothold in the novel NIL collectible market with various product lines. 

Upper Deck believes its upcoming product will significantly distinguish itself from its peers by focusing on sports traditionally underserved by the collectible market and emphasizing female representation. According to a press release from Upper Deck, the new collection “is designed to celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of college athletes across the country… featuring the name, image, likeness and signatures of emerging athletes across women’s and men’s sports including softball, gymnastics, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and football.”

While Bowman, a Topps brand, has highlighted select NCAA women’s basketball players in the highly popular Bowman University Chrome product line, female athletes from other sports and nonrevenue athletes, regardless of gender, have often been unable to find headway in the trading card landscape.

For Jason Masherah, President of Upper Deck, lack of representation was the impetus for the World of Sports Vol. 1 product line, “Not only are we facilitating opportunities for these talented players to establish their personal brand value early on; we’re also paving the way for equal opportunity among men and women in underrepresented sports who bring immense amounts of success to their schools and deserve to be rewarded for it. We can’t wait to bring these special early moments of their careers into the hands of collectors and fans.”

Jordy Bahl, multiple-time national champion and 2023 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year with Oklahoma, is one of the marquee athletes who will be highlighted in World of Sports Volume 1. Now, playing for Nebraska, Bahl is excited about the opportunity to be memorialized by a brand with the prestige of Upper Deck; "It is a privilege to have some of my sweetest memories in the game of softball immortalized in these trading cards. I cannot wait to share them with my family and loved ones, along with fans and other people who have followed my journey."   

The World of Sports product line is a re-imagination of a previous Upper Deck product of the same name, this time retrofitted to the NIL ecosystem. The 2010 series had many notable cards including a dual-autograph Michael Jordan and Lebron James card featuring both players during their amateur careers; the card has sold for over $10,000 at auction. 

This co-branded product would not be possible without the help of two separate licensing partners. CLC, the longstanding collegiate licensing giant, is assisting Upper Deck in securing the intellectual property assets of universities to highlight players in uniform and implement school branding on the cards. In addition, Upper Deck has retained The Brandr Group, which specializes in NIL group licensing, to license individual athletes' publicity rights. Upper Deck World of Sports Volume 1 will be available for purchase online and in-store. Updates for the product's upcoming release can be found on Upper Deck's website.