A news release from Panini America stated that the Caitlin Clark Collection of trading cards was introduced on Monday. Highlights from her record-breaking time at the University of Iowa are included in this compilation.
The 24-card collection (four cards each pack, totaling six packs) will be on sale immediately at Target (NASDAQ: TGT) and on Panini’s website, before eventually being carried by more retailers. Random packets will contain autographed cards. In collaboration with Panini, Clark designed a 15-card subset for the collection that honors significant events in her professional life.
Jason Howarth, senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations at Panini America, stated over the phone that “we wanted it to take on a feel of Caitlin and the things that were important to her.” “We constructed that set by asking her to share 10 to 15 incidents from her time at Iowa that she found memorable or significant.”
The Indiana Fever selected Clark first in the April WNBA Draft, making her the first female athlete to have an exclusive multiyear deal with Panini America for trading cards and autographed memorabilia. In the first year of that agreement, she would get more than $1 million, according to someone familiar with the terms who was not authorized to speak publicly.
After being selected by the Chicago Sky with the seventh overall pick, Angel Reese, a former standout player at LSU, became the second female athlete to have an exclusive relationship.
Thus far, Clark’s brief tenure in the WNBA—which is sponsored by Panini—has resulted in record attendance and ratings at the Indiana Fever’s home venues. She also has a few rare albums in her collection.
One-of-a-kind Clark’s Panini Instant Blue Viper autographed card cost $24,921 on Panini America’s website, making it the most popular WNBA card ever sold to the general public. The previous WNBA record, according to Cllct.com, was $10,800 for a Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) graded 10 2020 Panini Prizm Sabrina Ionescu card. The PSA website states that a card with a rating of 10 is “virtually perfect.”
In January, the PWCC Marketplace sold a 2022 Bowman University Superfractor Clark rookie card for $78,000. It is the women’s basketball card with the greatest sales volume ever.
Sportico received PSA data indicating that grading applications from collectors of Clark artifacts had grown. In an effort to make transactions and card grading easier, it just introduced its trading card vault in June. Monthly Clark card grades at PSA increased by 1,781% between October 2023 and April 2024.
Prior to joining Panini America, Clark worked for Fanatics-owned Topps, which was Panini’s main rival and the subject of an ongoing legal dispute in which Fanatics was accused of violating antitrust laws.
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