Panini America Wins NFLPA Licensee of the Year Award – The NFLPA, via its licensing and marketing arm, NFL Players Inc., launched the awards in 2015 to honor the NFLPA licensees that have demonstrated the most successful and creative use of group player rights within the past year.
A panel comprised of NFLPA executives judged entrants on five criteria: number of unique players featured within the licensees’ product lines; the marketing and promotional activations that featured players throughout the year; creativity and innovation in product development; the companies’ positive development of the players’ intellectual property; and, the range of distribution and growth in annual financial performance.
“We think it is important to give recognition to these licensees, who have done an outstanding job connecting with our players in the creation and marketing of their NFLPA licensed products,” said Steve Scebelo, NFLPA Vice President of Licensing and Business Development. “EA SPORTS, Panini America and 500 Level have all given extra effort to get to know and work directly with a significant number of players, and the dividends show in each of their respective product lines.”
This year’s winner in the Hardlines category, Panini America, is the exclusive trading card partner of the NFLPA. Highlights of the partnership included expansion of Panini America’s business through college-specific card sets featuring active NFL players, the launch of the Panini Gridiron app to engage fans and collectors, and the release of the inaugural Trading Card Index to rank top rookies and veterans based on overall trading volume and collectability.
“Panini America has been a terrific partner for many years, and continues to bring unprecedented innovation to the marketplace through unique product promotions across multiple platforms,” said NFLPA Assistant Vice President, Licensing, Karen Austin.
The NFLPA is ranked No. 36 among licensors worldwide according to License! Global in 2016, and recently announced its top player sales for the year-end, based on total sales of all officially licensed merchandise from online and traditional retail outlets as reported by more than 80 NFLPA licensees. Licensed product categories include men’s, women’s and youth game jerseys and t-shirts, wall decals, figurines, toys, matted and framed photos, ugly sweaters, bobbleheads, pins, drinkware, socks and electronic device accessories, among others. NFLPA licensees generated retail sales exceeding $1.5 billion during the year.
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