Panini America Adds Washington Nationals Pitcher Stephen Strasburg to Trading Card Roster

Panini America, a leading sports and entertainment collectibles company, announced today that it has reached an exclusive multi-year autograph agreement with Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

The deal grants Panini America the exclusive rights to produce autographed trading cards of Strasburg, a 15-game winner in 2012 who led the Nationals to the NL East title and their first postseason berth.

Panini America’s first Strasburg autograph cards will appear in the April release of its MLBPA-licensed 2012 Prizm Baseball product and will feature Strasburg in his USA Baseball uniform. Panini America is the official and exclusive trading card partner of USA Baseball.

“Stephen Strasburg is one of the most dominant pitchers in the game today; and one of baseball’s most popular and collected players,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “His exclusive presence in our licensed MLBPA trading card releases is a huge development for us and will add even more excitement to our roster of products. We’re honored that Stephen has entrusted us – exclusively – to represent and protect the integrity and collectibility of his autographed trading cards.”

Strasburg is Panini’s first exclusive athlete for its MLBPA trading card products and joins a roster of other exclusive athletes including five-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, two-time NBA Scoring Champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Hornets. Panini also has an exclusive autograph memorabilia deal with Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Andrew Luck for its Panini Authentic memorabilia division.

“I’m excited to announce my relationship with an innovative company like Panini and deliver my autographs to baseball collectors exclusively in Panini trading card products,” Strasburg said. “I’m looking forward to working with Panini and joining the ranks of their other exclusive athletes for trading cards.”