What Does The Panini PFL Deal Mean For The Card Company?

This has been a tough time for Panini, as they have lost many of their main assets. Of course, it started with losing the NBA and the NFL.

But since then, more losses have accrued, most recently in the Premier League and the Euro soccer competitions.

Finally, Panini has announced a win of sorts. They have signed a multi-year deal with the Professional Fighters League. That is an MMA league built more like other pro sports, with a regular season, post-season, and championship.

While different formats in the sport stick to a big fight format. What does this mean for your MMA cards? And how does this influence the big competition between Panini and Fanatics?

More to the point, will this help Panini survive? We have the full story in our overview of how Panini signed an exclusive deal with the PFL.

Details On Panini Signing An Exclusive Deal With The PFL

On June 3, 2024, Panini issued a press release announcing a significant announcement. The world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company revealed that it had struck a deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), a rapidly growing MMA league.

The PFL, known for its unique structure and innovative approach to the sport, has been making waves in the sports world. This partnership marks a new chapter for Panini, aligning with the PFL’s forward-thinking vision.

The press release read: “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, followed by the release of PFL Prizm later this year.

“We are very proud and excited to partner 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 worldwide. For our Panini MMA fans, our partnership with the PFL will allow fans to collect Panini’s products, which has energized the MMA trading card category.”

“The Professional Fighters League is proud to partner with Panini America, an industry leader in sports and entertainment collectibles,” said PFL CCO Bryan Calka. “The PFL values providing MMA fans worldwide 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 crucial marketing initiatives – Panini and the PFL will launch a series of digital trading card collectibles (NFTs).”

You can sense the excitement behind these words. Finally, Panini has a win to report. But how much of a win are we talking about here? Is this just symbolic or something more? Let’s take a look at the context.

Panini And Topps Compete Over MMA Rights

The UFC is far and away the most prominent MMA company. Panini had the rights to their cards until earlier this year. But as in many other sports, it became an arena (pardon the almost unintentional pun) for competition between the two big companies for exclusive rights.

Or, more to the point, Fanatics is trying to bring Panini to lose by knockout or submission (sorry again).

Panini first took the rights away from Topps in 2019. They were the big bully on the block, and Topps was the old-school company trying to survive. Topps had owned the rights since 2009 and lost them after over a decade of building an audience for the brand in the hobby.

MMA fans went from buying Topps Chrome UFC in 2019 to hunting for Panini Prizm UFC.

But in January 2024, the veteran American company got its own back with the help of the megabucks behind Fanatics. They signed a multi-year contract and, within just a month, had the first product out of the factory. 2024 Topps Chrome UFC was already on the shelves on February 28^th.  

At the time, Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan said. “UFC trading cards are trendy among collectors. [We] are truly honored to be able to make once again innovative and fun cards featuring the next wave of stars.”

They seemed to be utterly dominant in the MMA world at the time. But does the Panini move of securing rights to the PFL change the picture?

The Dominance Of UFC

MMA is among the fastest-growing sports in the world. It is believed that there are over 300 million fans of mixed martial arts worldwide.

Unlike most American-centered sports, it has a massive foreign base of supporters, especially in the UK, Brazil, China, and Singapore. That means it has enormous potential in the hobby and collecting space. Therefore, it is not surprising that Panini and Topps have been battling over the rights for years.

However, the UFC is easily the most significant player in the MMA space. Many fans call the sport UFC regardless of the league, like how we call any copy machine Xerox.

Its dominance is clear to see. In 2023, the UFC brought in $1.3 billion in revenue, and its pay-per-view events can reach 2 million views globally. They also absolutely dominate the MMA rankings of the top fighters.

In the 2023 ESPN rankings of the top 80 fighters in the sport, 68 were UFC fighters, and only one was a PFL fighter. Meanwhile, nine fighters were from Bellator Fighters, which has since united with the PFL.  

What is the Professional Fighters League (PFL)

The union of the PFL with Bellator on November 20, 2023, changed the landscape of the sport. According to the press release, the aim was to make the PFL “a global powerhouse and poised to become a co-leader.”

That was a much higher level of ambition than the PFL had shown before. Neither could challenge the UFC, but the two leagues provided much more formidable competition to the more prominent name.

The UFC is the more veteran outfit, having been formed in 1993 and having had the chance to establish itself and have lasting endurance.

Meanwhile, the PFL is newer. It was founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018. However, it has its roots in the World Series of Fighting (WSOF), created in 2012 and restructured to become the PFL.

Davis said he has no intention of replacing UFC. Instead, he said, “We’re not here to beat UFC. We’re here to be the second big company, the co-leader in MMA for those 650 million fans.”

 Considering the reputation and loyalty many fans have to the UFC brand, you may wonder if there is room in the sport for another league. However, the two have enough significant differences to warrant a rethink of the sport.

The PFL difference

The PFL has structured its events as a league with playoffs rather than having marquee fights.

In other words, it is more reminiscent of the NFL than professional boxing. Davis explains, “We structure Professional Fighters League as the regular season, playoff, and championship. You win, you advance. If you lose, you’re done for the year. You win four times in 2024; you’re the champ. So, in the UFC, 10% of their fights are for a title or to become a title contender, and 90% are essentially friendlies or NFL preseason.”

There is reason to believe PFL has a chance of taking a bigger bite out of the UFC in the future. One advantage they have over the UFC is giving their fighters a more significant share.

They receive 50% of the pay-per-view revenue, while we are talking about a mere 20% at the UFC.  As the numbers watching these fights increase, the best fighters may be tempted to jump ship. That will be good news for the PFL and, therefore, for Panini.

What does it mean that Panini signed an exclusive deal with the PFL

Perhaps the most significant element of this story is that it is a rare piece of good news for Panini. The company has had a long and challenging string of defeats, but this is the first new and exciting deal we have seen from them.

The feeling that they are making moves and not allowing fanatics to gobble them up is already important.

But this does not solve the many problems Panini is facing. Not even close. Right now, the PFL portfolio is not worth very much. As mentioned, none of the tremendous fighters is on their current roster.

Perhaps the most prominent name there is Francis Ngannou, and we are not sure he has enough of a following to make an entire release right now. Indeed, that seems unlikely. And, of course, he was a UFC fighter in the past.

Therefore, his rookie cards already appear elsewhere. In 2017, Topp Chrome UFC was used, to be precise.

Or as one Blowout Forum user put it, “Donn Davis is a bumbling moron who’s going to run PFLattor into the ground more than it already was. What’s the chase for this set? Nearly every relevant fighter on the PFLattor roster already has a gluttony of prior Topps autos.”

We are all aware of the rights the Italian company (or its American subsidiary, to be more accurate) has suffered in recent years. However, there now appear to be issues related to their cash flow.

Retired WWE wrestler Kevin Nash recently posted that Panini had not paid him the total amount owed for a contract. They reportedly shorted him by $3,000.

That seems like the kind of nickel-and-dime action you would expect from a company with significant liquidity problems.

The Panini Liquidity Problems

It is no mystery why that is happening. The company is leaking exclusive contracts right and left and is about to lose its two most significant assets, the NBA and the NFL.

If that isn’t bad enough, the company is also up to its head in legal processes. It is currently involved in several lawsuits, most notably with Fanatics regarding the poaching of executives and an anti-trust suit.

While we understand Panini is angry with Fanatics’s strong-arm tactics, these lawsuits are unlikely to reverse the tide of losses Panini is experiencing.

However, the move to conclude a rights agreement with the PFL seems like a much more productive use of their time and money.

It is true that the UFC is more considerable and may continue to dominate MMA in the long term. But the PFL appears to be rising, placing Panini America in the game yet again.

Using its limited resources to buy and keep rights would probably be advisable instead of bleeding out in court. And, of course, it needs to pay its debts and fulfill contracts if it wants to remain a respected player in the hobby.

Final word on Panini signing a deal with PFL

Signing a deal with the PFL is hardly a game-changer for Panini. To begin with, the MMA is a niche collectors venue, and the UFC is far and away the most prominent actor in it.

But it does show where Panini can still be relevant. The PFL does appear to be a genuine up-and-coming actor in the MMA world. That makes it an example of how Panini can pick its spots and stay relevant in a fanatics-dominated world.

It will have to cut its overhead significantly since it can no longer afford the network and resources it once had. But if it can pick spots strategically and maintain some of the alliances it has built over the years (like FIFA), it can hold a respectable place in the hobby.

To a great degree, the hobby’s future depends on this because we don’t want just one company running the entire hobby.