I’d love to walk into a card shop and see a new box of Upper Deck baseball cards next to Topps Series 1. Current players. Real MLB logos. A fresh take on what a baseball card can look like.
I’d also love to see Panini Prizm and Topps Chrome compete for my football card money. And if a company I’ve never heard of can make a baseball set I’d rather collect than either of the big names, give it a shot, too.
That’s my beef with exclusive sports card licensing. You can have a wall full of different boxes and still have exactly one company making all the fully licensed cards for your favorite sport.
Why do leagues grant exclusive sports card licenses?
Because exclusivity is something a card company will pay for. A league and its players association can ask how much one manufacturer will pay to have the market to itself and how much two or three manufacturers would pay to share the rights. If the exclusive deal brings in more money or offers better terms, you can see the appeal.
And the deals can go beyond licensing fees. In 2021, Sports Business Journal reported that MLB, the NBA, and several players associations were set to receive equity in the Fanatics trading card venture as part of their agreements. That gave those organizations a stake in the growth of the business.
Fanatics bought Topps in 2022 after securing its baseball licensing deals. Topps became the exclusive trading card licensee of the NBA and its players association in October 2025, then of the NFL and its players association in April 2026. Upper Deck benefits from the same setup in hockey. The NHL and NHLPA announced long-term extensions with Upper Deck as their exclusive physical trading card manufacturer in 2021.
Why I want Upper Deck baseball cards back
The Upper Deck logo still makes me think of that 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie. What I’d love to see today is what Upper Deck would do with a new flagship baseball set. Give me great photography, a checklist that goes deep enough for team collectors, and packs I can buy without doing the math on whether I should’ve just bought the single.
The logos matter here. Team branding and group player rights are licensed separately. In 2009, MLB granted Topps exclusive team-branding rights starting with the 2010 season, even though Upper Deck had renewed its own MLB Players Association deal for that season. In the years before Fanatics took over, Panini also held MLBPA rights while Topps held the exclusive MLB license. That’s how Panini could put major leaguers on cards without official team logos. upperdeck.com
If I’m buying a card for my Reds collection, I want the wishbone C on the cap. Give Upper Deck access to the same league and group player rights as Topps, and I can judge the cards on the stuff I actually care about.
What would more competition do for collectors?
Say I’ve got $150 for a football box. Put a fully licensed Prizm box beside a fully licensed Chrome box and now I can compare the checklists, the pack odds, and what each box actually guarantees. If one release feels overpriced, I can take my money across the shelf and still get current players in real NFL uniforms.
It matters for singles, too. Maybe one company has the better-looking rookie card. Maybe the other puts the fourth-round pick you’ve been following since draft day in its set. For a team collector, that can be more exciting than a fifteenth color of a card you already own.
And a newcomer might spot something the established brands keep missing. I’d give a new company a chance to pitch one set with a clear idea. Think affordable packs, a deep checklist, and photos you’d actually stop flipping through a binder to look at.
More card makers, one release calendar
The best argument against more licenses is sitting right there on the hobby shop shelf. We already have plenty of sets. Three companies each trying to fill a calendar could make the hobby harder to follow.
So cap the total number of releases and let more than one company compete for those spots. When the rights come up for renewal, I’d start by opening the door to a second fully licensed manufacturer and leaving room for a newcomer to earn a limited license. In baseball, I’d love to see Upper Deck make its pitch. In football and basketball, I’d love to see Panini get a shot at going head-to-head with Topps again.
Put Upper Deck next to Topps. Put Prizm next to Chrome. And if somebody new makes the best box on the shelf, I hope they get my $150.
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