Debut Patches Are Coming For The NBA And NFL

The rookie card is arguably the most important element in the entire hobby. They are a time capsule of a moment of pure potential.

They carry a unique mystique, representing the untarnished promise of a player’s career before reality sets in. It’s the moment of infinite possibility: before injuries, before disappointments, before the world knows what will come.

The Debut Patch, pioneered by Topps in the 2023 Topps Chrome Update Series took that to the next level. Putting the actual patch a player wore in their MLB debut allowed collectors to participate in the ultimate rookie moment.

That first game. Now, Topps plans to expand those offerings to other big sports. This is how Topps intends to introduce the debut patch to the NFL and NBA.

How news broke of Debut Patches for the NFL and NBA

Mike Mahan told the Sports Card Collector podcast that the debut patches will now be coming to NBA and NFL products. Geoff Wilson asked him if a lot of the innovations that made their way to baseball can be expected in football and basketball products.

Mahan answered, “Yeah. I think that collectors have responded positively to many things we have done. And you want to keep that going. Nothing more than the debut patch. In terms of the enthusiasm. There has been a ton of enthusiasm around the debut patch because it connects you in an authentic way to that first moment a player steps on the field, and I think that we would look to do the same thing the first time a player steps on the court or the first time they step on the field in the NFL.”

Technically, this isn’t news. Elijah Bloom, the youngest sports card reporter out there, interviewed Mike Rubin at Fanatics Fest in 2024, and Rubin told him this was happening.

Rubin told him, “We always have innovative things up our sleeve, so for sure, it will come. Just wait until the debut patches come to the NBA and then the NFL as well.” You have to hand it to the kid. He truly got the scoop here. Still, this time, the news seems to have taken, and it made a much bigger splash in the hobby.

Fanatics and Topps are positioned to create unprecedented consistency across sports. With upcoming licenses for MLB, NFL, NBA, and MLS, they can establish a unified concept of the ultimate rookie collectible.

Imagine the possibilities: a Victor Wembanyama NBA Logoman debut patch or a Patrick Mahomes NFL debut patch—each truly a one-of-a-kind artifact that can never be recreated.

Fanatics hopes to release its first fully licensed NBA products in early October 2025—just seven months from now. This is a big deal because the next NBA rookie class is a stacked one.

Cooper Flagg is the biggest name, and whether he pans out or not, there is going to be massive hype surrounding him and that card. Imagine if we had a Debut Patch 1/1 for Patrick Mahomes or Wemby; how much would they sell for?

They would likely put Paul Skenes to shame. There will undoubtedly be cards like that in the future. They might end up breaking records.

When We Will See NFL Debut Patch Cards

As for the NFL, we will not see those arrive until early 2026. Topps does not have a license for the 2025 season. Therefore, we will have to wait a while. Most likely in March or April of next year.

That is a good sign in and of itself because it means we will be getting NFL cards early and ready for the season. Something Panini has been unable to deliver. That will help a lot to gain favor with collectors who are sick and tired of waiting months for releases and getting cards after the season is over.

That will add to the excitement around new releases. Probably even more than these debut patches.

Indeed, the Debut Patches will probably be the central angle with which Fanatics will market their first Topps Chrome Basketball release. And we are almost certain this will work very well. The hype surrounding that product will be insane. The first Debut Patches will arrive in a flagship cardboard release.

The vision behind Debut Patch cards

Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan recently explained the vision behind these cards on the Sports Card Investor podcast:

“There’s been a ton of enthusiasm around the debut patch because it connects you authentically to that first moment a player steps on the field,” Mahan said. “We would look to do the same thing the first time a player steps on the court or a player steps on the field in the NFL.”

No one was shocked to hear that these highly successful cards would now be featured in NBA and NFL cards. Considering all the media attention they received, that was almost a given.

The potential is staggering. Consider the current market trajectory: Paul Skenes’ MLB Debut Patch has already surpassed $500,000 in sales, drawing comparisons to legendary cards like Mike Trout’s 2009 Bowman Chrome Autograph Superfractor, which sold for $3.84 million in 2020.

Nick Bell, CEO of Fanatics Collect, captured the essence of this innovation: “The debut patches were just a fantastic product idea. They are truly a one-of-one, and I think collectors are starting to understand what this means. We will only see them grow in importance over the coming years.”

Baseball Debut Patches hit the stratosphere

On October 26th, 2023, Topps unveiled a groundbreaking design for the Rookie Debut Patch Autograph (RDPA) cards in the Topps Chrome Update Series. As it turned out, these weren’t just ordinary cards — they were lightning in a bottle.

The concept was extraordinary. Players would wear a special MLB Debut patch during their first major league game. The cards featured a mostly white design surrounded by gold, with an on-card autograph and the coveted 1/1 insignia prominently displayed.

It would then be carefully removed, authenticated, and transformed into a unique 1/1 collectible. Indeed, it doesn’t get more 1/1 that.

Opening Day 2023 saw top prospects like Anthony Volpe of the New York Yankees and Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals sporting these historic patches, along with international imports like Kodai Senga and Masataka Yoshida.

Topps also addressed concerns about authenticity well. Collectors have been particularly excited about the authenticity. Topps addressed collector concerns by implementing a “clear plastic window on each card’s back, so collectors can be confident that each patch was worn in that player’s debut.”

Unlike previous memorabilia cards that sometimes felt manufactured, these Debut Patches are the real deal.

The mainstream media takes notice of Debut Patches

The impact extended far beyond the collecting community. Major media outlets like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the Boston Globe began covering the unique collaboration between Topps and MLB. There is no question that this was the biggest and best promotional idea that Topps had in the Fanatics era. Collectors went wild.

Most of the more oversized cards have not sold yet. So, we will wait to see what their potential market value is. However, those that have sold have done very well. A 2024 Topps Chrome Update Noelvi Marte Rookie Debut Patch Autograph RC 1/1 sold for $20,000. Meanwhile, the Andy Pages sold recently for $10,700 and a Landon Knack for $10,000.

These will likely become the most valuable rookie cards for the biggest stars in the future. That is unless Fanatics can come up with something else to top them.

MLS Debut Patches: Soccer’s new frontier

Topps has brought the Debut Patch concept to Major League Soccer, creating a 35-card offering that captures the league’s rising excitement. The 2024 Topps Chrome MLS release features debut patch autograph cards featuring international stars like Luis Suárez, World Cup Winner Hugo Lloris, and Gabriel Pec.

While not as high-profile as the MLB debut patches, these soccer cards have generated significant interest. Each card features the player’s debut date and an authentic image from their first MLS appearance. The collection includes 200 base cards, with the debut patch cards becoming an instant collector’s item.

For example, a 2024 Topps Chrome MLS Debut Patch Auto 1/1 Pedro De La Vega card sold for $2,500. Meanwhile, a Bruno Wilson sold for $2,000. You can expect the biggest and best NFL and NBA Debut Patches to sell for several times that.

Reaction from collectors and the industry

The market response has been nothing short of phenomenal. Approximately 65% of Debut Patch cards have already been pulled from packs. Each pull, even the less important ones, has been an event. The attention these pulls got has indicated an unprecedented level of collector interest.

The best way to gauge the reaction has been to go on social media. Social media platforms have erupted with excitement.

On Twitter, Comics and Crypto broke the news of the expanding Debut Patches, highlighting the “massive success of MLB debut patches.” Unlike many other hyped moments in the hobby, this was more real. People are genuinely drawn to the debut patch concept. No one has to explain why this matters. Collectors instinctively get it.

Take the Paul Skenes card, for instance. The New York Times described it as sparking a “Willy Wonka-like chase,” with high-end collectors speculating that the card could fetch up to $1 million at auction.

Even Skenes got caught up in the excitement, tweeting, “I was distraught I didn’t find the card” when discussing a trade offer.

The online collecting community has been buzzing with excitement.

One collector captured the essence of the Debut Patches on Facebook’s Sports Cards Nonsense group: “The Topps debut patch cards are all the rage. Imagine having something so iconic from the debut of a big player all inside of a baseball card and signed.” A fascinating thread noted some of the most oversized pulls: “I saw a spreadsheet on X with the pulls so far. With Colton Cowser and Pete Crow Armstrong as the biggest pulls so far.”

Still, there are skeptics. One commenter on Instagram wrote, “If the patches are from jerseys produced by Fanatics, they’ll probably fall out of the cards at some point due to their lousy construction.”

Final word on the introduction of Debut Patches in the NFL and NBA

The truth is, they have been making baseball cards for a long time, and sometimes it seems like all the ideas on what to do with these tiny pieces of cardboard have already been done—if not done to death.

The Debut Patches were a significant and successful attempt to do something actually new. Fanatics will, totally understandably, milk this massive success for all it is worth.

Few could have predicted the seismic shift they would create in the collecting world. What began as a novel concept in baseball has now become a multi-sport phenomenon that promises to redefine how we capture athletic potential.

The numbers tell a compelling story: A Paul Skenes debut patch is approaching $500,000, MLS cards are selling for thousands, and the upcoming NBA and NFL debut patches with Cooper Flagg and other rising stars are on the horizon.

This isn’t just a collecting trend—it’s a new form of sports memorabilia.

Fanatics and Topps have done more than create a new type of card. They’ve invented a way to bottle lightning — to capture that precise, unrepeatable moment when a prospect becomes a professional.

That and releases that are actually on time seem calculated to assure the success of the first licensed Topps releases for basketball and football.