It’s difficult to talk about college sports without mentioning the impact of NIL. During the 2023-24 academic year, NIL dominated most of the headlines in college sports, and a heavy focus was on the NCAA’s declining autonomy, which led to instability, early coach departures, and tremendous player turnover (and wealth) in the transfer portal. Aside from these polarizing and critical-to-evaluation developments, one storyline went relatively unnoticed – the rapid growth and increased consumer demand for NIL collectibles.
College cards, especially limited first edition cards, have been highly prized by collectors on the secondary market. A one-of-a-kind Caitlin Clark Bowman NIL card sold for $78,000, and a similar one-of-a-kind Arch Manning card broke the Panini auction record at $102,500.
Upper Deck, a longtime titan in the sports memorabilia space, has recognized the NIL climate and is launching The Upper Deck World of Sports Volume 1 in time for the 2024-25 academic year. Upper Deck joins other major players in the sports memorabilia ecosystem, such as Leaf, Topps and Panini, who have attempted to gain a foothold in the novel NIL collectibles market with various product lines.
Upper Deck believes its upcoming product will stand out from its competitors by focusing on sports that have traditionally been underserved by the collectibles market and emphasizing female representation. According to a press release from Upper Deck, the new collection is designed to “celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of college athletes across the country… and features the name, image, likeness and signatures of up-and-coming athletes from women’s and men’s sports such as softball, gymnastics, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball and football.”
While Bowman, a Topps brand, has featured select NCAA women’s basketball players in the hugely popular Bowman University Chrome product line, female athletes from other sports and non-revenue athletes, regardless of gender, have not been able to share their unique stories. It’s worth noting that independent NIL-focused card manufacturer ONIT Athlete has produced trading card sets for a variety of non-revenue female athletes. However, without the strong brand and historic product lines of major card companies, these cards lack the resale value that limited-edition NIL cards from Panini or Bowman can command.
For Jason Masherah, President of Upper Deck, the lack of representation was the impetus for the World of Sports Vol. 1 product line: “We are not only enabling these talented players to establish their personal brand value early on, but we are also paving the way for equal opportunities between men and women in underrepresented sports that bring immense success to their schools and should be rewarded for it. We can’t wait to get these special early moments of their careers into the hands of collectors and fans.”
Jordy Bahl, a multiple national champion and 2023 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year with Oklahoma, is one of the outstanding athletes featured in Volume 1 of World of Sports. Bahl now plays for Nebraska and is excited about the opportunity to be immortalized by a brand with the prestige of Upper Deck: “It’s a privilege to see some of my fondest memories in softball immortalized on these trading cards. I can’t wait to share them with my family and loved ones, as well as fans and other people who have followed my journey.”
The World of Sports line is a reinterpretation of a previous Upper Deck product of the same name, this time retrofitted to the NIL ecosystem. The 2010 series featured many notable cards, including a dual autograph card of Michael Jordan and Lebron James depicting both players during their amateur careers; the card sold at auction for over $10,000.
This co-branded product would not be possible without the help of two distinct licensing partners. CLC, the long-time college licensing giant, is helping Upper Deck secure university intellectual property to highlight players in uniform and place school brands on the cards. Additionally, Upper Deck has engaged Brandr Group, which specializes in NIL group licensing, to license individual athlete publicity rights. Upper Deck World of Sports Volume 1 will be available online and in-store. Stay tuned to Upper Deck’s website for updates on the product’s upcoming release.