Collegiate Licensing Company, Upper Deck Announce Multi-Year Exclusive

Ysponder

By Tracy Hackler  
8/13/2009 9:02:36 AM


As for reported by Beckett Media, the Collegiate Licensing Company officially announced Thursday morning that it has reached an exclusive five-year agreement with Upper Deck.

The agreement, which goes into effect April 1, 2010, gives Upper Deck exclusive rights in the trading card category to the team and word marks for more than 200 collegiate institutions.

“We believe that there are many opportunities in the college trading card category that have not been fully realized, and Upper Deck shares our vision for expansion,” said David Kirkpatrick, CLC’s Vice President of Non-Apparel Marketing. “We are confident that fans will embrace this strategy, which will place a renewed focus on collegiate accomplishments in addition to a student-athlete’s post-collegiate potential.”


According to a press release distributed Thursday, Upper Deck intends to expand its collegiate license beyond football and basketball to include sports such as hockey, baseball, lacrosse, swimming and women’s basketball while extending its distribution into new outlets such as college bookstores and concession stands.

“Many of the best athletes in the world were leaders in college sports, and fans of those colleges passionately support their former players,” said Richard McWilliam, Upper Deck founder and CEO. “Upper Deck shares that commitment to the college market, and we plan to putthe marketing resources in place to support both our trading card programand the college sports market overall. “

Stay tuned to Beckett.com for additional details.