It's official. Fanatics to buy Topps

Looks like some classic brands are coming back for Basketball, Football, and are preserved in baseball. We shall see how well they execute.
 
Who else saw this coming? LOL…no insider info needed :)

This is GREAT news for continuity’s sake and the return of Topps NFL and NBA!
 
Do I have that right that it's at 33% of the valuation of the Mudrick IPO? Oof. Would love to see the strategy deck on how Fanatics plans to roll this out. Also wonder what Panini turned down when they were almost certainly approached.
 
BrookIsland said:
Do I have that right that it's at 33% of the valuation of the Mudrick IPO? Oof. Would love to see the strategy deck on how Fanatics plans to roll this out. Also wonder what Panini turned down when they were almost certainly approached.
Click to expand...

Cutthroat move that worked that axed the SPAC deal. The clock was already ticking with the PA licence ending after 2022, then IIRC, there is a crap ton of bonds maturing in the fall that put an even bigger squeeze on Topps. With no future licence and a pile of money coming due, time to cut bait and get out from underneath it. As long as Fanatics VC backers don't try to punch out leaving a shell of itself down the line, I don't think there's too much to be concerned about. But if it goes down the same path as you're seeing with newspapers with them being stripped bare and minimal effort to maintain a quality product, there will be a massive hobby reckoning at some point which will be inevitable
 
Hama said:
Cutthroat move that worked that axed the SPAC deal. The clock was already ticking with the PA licence ending after 2022, then IIRC, there is a crap ton of bonds maturing in the fall that put an even bigger squeeze on Topps. With no future licence and a pile of money coming due, time to cut bait and get out from underneath it. As long as Fanatics VC backers don't try to punch out leaving a shell of itself down the line, I don't think there's too much to be concerned about. But if it goes down the same path as you're seeing with newspapers with them being stripped bare and minimal effort to maintain a quality product, there will be a massive hobby reckoning at some point which will be inevitable
Click to expand...
Totally agree on all that, Hama.

I think outcome turns completely on the VC (or PE) mindset going into this deal - we saw it already a bit with how Topps was managed going into the IPO/SPAC deal on the basis of the very, very low reinvestment into the core business, very low contributions to research and development and effectively maximizing short term cash flows at the expense of everything else...

To your point, this sort of reminds me of the Zell-led Tribune shenanigans which played out for years (and I'm not sure are totally resolved in bankruptcy).

I would hope that the "equity" component of the PA ownership stakes will ideally create some longer-term incentives to maintain high quality/high(er) customer service etc. and maintain brand loyalty; that being said, having a monopoly in the sport creates the exact opposite incentives.

And for the vast majority(?) of the players, the revenue contribution of cards to their bottom line is marginal which suggests that no one will who holds the "equity" will have real incentives to watch/challenge the Fanatics team and strategic/day-to-day decisions that they make.

Will see; and Ryan, to your point, very interested to see what happens with Southern Hobby/GTS. Would love for them to go back to being distributors and not effectively finance-like b/ds/"market makers" by artificially stoking demand.

I've got my popcorn (or crackerjacks?) ready...
 
Burner said:
too bad we're still stuck with a UD exclusive
Click to expand...

Normally I would reply with "That's a good thing" but the lack of products coming out has got to be getting under everyone's skin now. They are very little transparency about why beyond supply issues.

Too bad they can't sell their license to Panini so they can bring back dominion, national treasures, prime etc.
 
tomcat_sportscards said:
Normally I would reply with "That's a good thing" but the lack of products coming out has got to be getting under everyone's skin now. They are very little transparency about why beyond supply issues.

Too bad they can't sell their license to Panini so they can bring back dominion, national treasures, prime etc.
Click to expand...

There aren't any other reasons except the supply chain issues. Printing and packaging are pretty much the only factors in product delays right now.
 
Triple B said:
Distributors are about to take a well deserved beating, too.
Click to expand...

Fanatics with their own distribution networks.. should be interesting.. I want to see if the casual breaker will benefit yet.
 
99goals said:
Fanatics with their own distribution networks.. should be interesting.. I want to see if the casual breaker will benefit yet.
Click to expand...

It’ll be direct to consumer. They need to get a handle on blocking bots if they’re going to go the route Topps has with their online releases. Make everyone register for an account and limit people to maybe 5 boxes of something and if you decline it goes into a pool. This free-for-all way of doing things is nuts.
 
frankiefives said:
Leaf has been having issues. Word on the street is that Panini paid their vendor extra $ to kick Leaf to the curb.
Click to expand...
The story that I heard at Expo had Panini muscling Leaf out of their access to printing.


I'm glad that others see the potential for a profiteering hollowing-out as with newspapers or TRU. I hope that does not happen.
 
Triple B said:
It’ll be direct to consumer. They need to get a handle on blocking bots if they’re going to go the route Topps has with their online releases. Make everyone register for an account and limit people to maybe 5 boxes of something and if you decline it goes into a pool. This free-for-all way of doing things is nuts.
Click to expand...

Is Fanatics ready to kill businesses like D&A and Blowout? It'll be very interesting.
 
frankiefives said:
Is Fanatics ready to kill businesses like D&A and Blowout? It'll be very interesting.
Click to expand...

They’ll probably be used as outlets.

I can see A LOT of the B&M type places having to readjust their philosophies as Fanatics will probably want these places pushing products other than just cards (which a place like DACW Is already set up to do…their superstore is prime to sell jerseys, hats, memorabilia, etc on top of pushing cards). They’ll likely have to adjust their distributor side of things, but maybe not by much if they’re going the outlet route.

The ones being demolished will be distributors and breakers. Those guys are likely done. I can’t wait to see HOW Fanatics plan on handling it when it comes to limited products in a direct-to-consumer method of distribution. My concern is what I’ve seen with Topps and that’s having a product sell out in minutes and see one guy selling case after case of what should have been something allocated to buyers.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
389,536
Messages
2,233,433
Members
4,149
Latest member
vegasfiredawg
Back
Top