By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Panini America continues to make sports history, signing an exclusive partnership with women’s basketball star and WNBA prospect Angel Reese for autographed trading cards and memorabilia.
The multi-year agreement will include a wide variety of products featuring Reese, who recently declared for this year’s WNBA draft. Panini launched a special Panini Instant card on April 10 commemorating the announcement. The first product for consumers is expected to be her Panini Instant WNBA Draft Night trading card. Reese will also be featured in Panini’s collegiate and WNBA products, including WNBA Origins set to release in August, followed by WNBA Select Basketball and WNBA Prizm.
Fans will be able to get Reese’s exclusive autograph memorabilia at www.paniniamerica.net.
“Angel is an outstanding talent and an electric player, and we are excited to welcome her to the Panini family as an exclusive athlete,” said Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relations for Panini America. “We look forward to offering her fans Angel’s trading cards and memorabilia.”
The signing underlines the rapidly growing brand value of women’s sports and female athletes, who have been on a tear since TV networks began airing games at accessible times, and investors have crowded into the space, putting serious money into women’s sports.
As TLL detailed in our Special Report: The Growing Opportunity for Licensing in Women’s Sports, viewership has soared for women’s soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis and hockey over the past few years, sparking a land rush for sponsorship and licensing deals.
Special Report: The Growing Opportunity for Licensing in Women’s Sports
Panini America is an early mover in the space, and signed its first ever exclusive partnership with a female athlete when the company inked a deal with the University of Iowa’s basketball star Caitlin Clark, whose rivalry with Reese has made both women hot commodities in the sports world.
This is obviously a big moment for Reese as well, who led her team from LSU to their first-ever NCAA women’s basketball title in 2023, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. This season the 6’3” Reese led the Tigers in both scoring and rebounding and finished her collegiate career as the SEC’s 2024 Player of the Year.
“I’m excited to join Panini as an exclusive athlete for autograph trading cards and memorabilia,” said Reese. “As a little girl growing up you always dream of playing basketball and getting your first trading card—I can’t wait for fans everywhere to be able to start collecting my Panini cards.”
Reese joins University of Texas quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark, among other top NFL and NBA Draft picks who have joined the Panini family.