PANINI AND PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE MULTI-YEAR TRADING CARD PARTNERSHIP
Irving, TX (June 3, 2024) — Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, and the Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most innovative sports league, have announced a multi-year sports trading card partnership.
Panini and the PFL, its fight franchises and athletes will deliver new and innovative products to the MMA sports trading card category. The first product release will come via Panini Instant, a real-time, direct-to-consumer platform, which will be followed by the release of PFL Prizm later this year.
“We are very proud and excited to be partnering with the Professional Fighters League,” said Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relations for Panini America. “The PFL has enjoyed tremendous growth and its events and athletes continue to engage fight fans all over the world. For our Panini MMA fans our partnership with the PFL will allow fans to collect Panini’s products that energized the MMA trading card category.”
“The Professional Fighters League is proud to partner with Panini America, industry leader in sports and entertainment collectibles,” said PFL CCO, Bryan Calka. “The PFL values providing MMA fans around the world with a high value and premium experience. In Panini America we have a partner that shares that ethos with the collector community.”
In addition to partnering on key marketing initiatives – Panini and the PFL will launch a series of digital trading card collectibles (NFTs).
The second half of the 2024 PFL Global Season begins Thursday, June 13 from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT with continuing action June 21 in Salt Lake City and June 28 in South Dakota. Athletes across six weight classes will be looking to secure 2024 PFL Global Playoff berths with a chance to be crowned PFL World Champion and claiming $1 Million purses.
PFL is the only organization in MMA with the sports-season format, where individual fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship each year. The combined roster of PFL and Bellator boasts 30% of its fighters independently world-ranked in the top 25 of their respective weight-class. PFL has an expansive global vision for the sport and is building the “Champions League of MMA” with PFL Europe, PFL MENA, and more international leagues in development. PFL leads in technology and innovation, with its proprietary PFL SmartCage, powering fight analytics, real-time betting, AI scoring, and a next-generation viewing experience. PFL is available across ESPN platforms in the U.S., DAZN in Canada and Europe and broadcast and streamed in 160 countries with 20 premium media distribution partners.
About Panini America
Panini America is a subsidiary of The Panini Group, established over 60 years ago in Modena, Italy with subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States. Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles and is the most significant publisher of collectibles in the U.S., with official licenses for NFL, NFLPA, NBA, NBPA, NASCAR, FIFA, LIV Golf, WWE, College, Disney and other key properties from many other licensors. Panini is also the exclusive trading card and sticker partner of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Elite 11 and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc.
Panini has distribution channels in more than 150 countries and employs a staff of over 1,200. For more information visit us at www.paniniamerica.net, www.paninigroup.com or
http://blog.paniniamerica.net/. You can also follow Panini America on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE
Professional Fighters League (PFL) is a global powerhouse in MMA and the fastest-growing sports league world-wide. PFL has five live fight franchises, offering year-round content: PFL League Season, PFL PPV Super Fights, PFL Challenger Series, PFL International Leagues, and Bellator. Founded in 2018, PFL is backed by major blue-chip investors including SRJ, Ares, Knighthead, Luxor Capital, Waverley Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, and numerous NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS team owners. MMA is the growth sport business of this decade, with 650 million fans worldwide, the youngest audience demographic, and true global revenue streams.
PFLmma.com; Instagram (@PFLmma); Twitter (@PFLMMA); Facebook (/PFLmma)
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
