Panini Hires Advisors to Explore a Sale, With Topps Reportedly in the Mix
Italian business outlet Il Sole 24 Ore confirmed over the weekend that Panini Group is exploring a sale. Topps (owned by Fanatics) has been named as a potential buyer, though sources close to Fanatics insist the company is not interested in acquiring Panini outright.
Panini Is Officially on the Block
Italian business outlet Il Sole 24 Ore confirmed over the weekend that Panini Group has hired advisors to explore strategic options for the trading card business, including a full or partial sale. The news lands less than three weeks after Panini's NFL exclusive officially expired on March 31, and it is the clearest signal yet that the post-license era is going to reshape Panini's corporate structure.
The names floated in the Italian press include Topps, which is owned by Fanatics, along with private equity firms that have been circling the collectibles space since the pandemic-era valuation runup.
What Exactly Is For Sale
Panini has a global business that stretches well beyond the U.S. sports card market. Understanding the pieces matters because a deal structure could easily carve the company up rather than sell it whole.
- The U.S. sports card operation, including legacy NBA exclusivity (expiring in 2026) and the existing Prizm, Select, and National Treasures product lines.
- The European football (soccer) sticker and card business, which is a juggernaut and is expected to see a revenue surge from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- Panini's Olympics and international licensing, which will see a bump from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics now wrapped up and the 2028 Los Angeles Games already in planning.
- Non-card businesses including magazines, children's publishing, and comics distribution, particularly in Italy and Brazil.
Fanatics Says It Is Not Buying
Sources close to Fanatics told Collectibles on SI earlier this year that the company is not interested in acquiring Panini. That messaging has held steady even after the Il Sole 24 Ore report, which is a meaningful signal.
From Fanatics' perspective, why would they pay a premium to buy a business whose primary leverage, U.S. sports card exclusives, they have already taken away through licensing? The cleaner strategic play is to let the sale run its course and potentially pick up pieces on the back end.
The Timeline That Actually Matters
Expect the real deal activity to happen in the second half of 2026. There are two reasons the timeline is being pushed:
- World Cup revenue. Panini's sticker and card business is going to post a huge revenue quarter tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Waiting until those numbers land publicly gives any seller a better negotiating position.
- Olympic lift. Milan-Cortina 2026 results are already in the books, and that is another piece of documentable upside in any data room pitch.
- NBA license clarity. Panini's remaining NBA exclusivity unwinds in phases. A cleaner picture of what the NBA trading card economics look like post-Panini will give buyers better comps.
What Collectors Should Take Away
In the short term, nothing changes. Your 2025-26 Prizm basketball break tonight still rips exactly the same way it would have a week ago. But over the 18-to-24-month horizon, the shape of the hobby's supply side is genuinely unsettled for the first time in a decade.
If you hold a lot of Panini sealed inventory, the calculus is nuanced. A sale to a bigger operator could legitimize those back catalogs and push up long-term values. A breakup, on the other hand, could orphan entire product lines and freeze reprint pipelines. The answer depends on who buys what, and we probably will not know for real until late 2026.