Topps ousted as MLB's producer of baseball cards; Fanatics to reach record-breaking pact

After 70 years of producing baseball trading cards for several generations of sports memorabilia collectors, the most notable name in the industry, Topps, is now on the outside looking in.

In a memo revealed by numerous sources on Friday, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players’ Association have reached an agreement with Fanatics to exclusively produce baseball cards.

The Topps Company has been a staple of the trading card business across numerous sports and hobbies. Despite sales of a combined $1 billion over the last two years, their valuation is merely a fraction of the memorabilia and merchandise colossus Fanatics. The loss of their most prized asset leaves Topps with only the rights to produce cards for several top soccer leagues.

With one more year left on their current deal, there’s no certainty where Topps goes from here. Though a deal with MLB extends through 2026, it remains to be seen how the company can overcome this major impediment without an MLBPA license. 

Topps first year of production in 1951 coincided with the rookie season of New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle. The next year, he received his first baseball card and an industry was born.

In recent years, the passion for card collecting has undergone a renaissance. Packs of Pokémon cards are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars and even a 2018-19 basketball card of Dallas Mavericks’ Luca Dončić sold for $4.6 million earlier this year. 

On Monday, the famed T206 Honus Wagner card sold for a record $6.6 million. Originally included in packs of cigarettes from 1909-11, the card depicts the Hall of Famer in his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, sans cap. While it’s been long held that Wagner didn’t want to be associated with such a product that was marketed to children, a different rationale has emerged in recent years that The Flying Dutchman was aware of the value of his name, image and likeness (NIL) and had not received a cent from the American Tobacco Company. 

When asked about the recent news, Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black discussed his favorite cards from his playing days before ultimately settling on the magic that manufacturers like Topps captured through the cardboard collectibles.

“I’ve always loved baseball cards. I wasn’t a collector. The bubblegum was awful, but I still loved chewing it. You would bite into it and It would crack because it was so old and dated, but I loved it. I looked at the back of cards. I looked at stats. I looked at the numbers. I’m pro baseball cards. I know there are (other sports) cards, but it just doesn’t seem the same. Baseball is different.”

The landscape of the industry may never be the same, but one thing will remain: gum will not be a part of the hunt for the next million dollar card.