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- Topps to remain the exclusive and official collectibles partner of Uefa’s club competitions
- Sticker and trading card company first teamed up with European soccer body six years ago
Uefa has extended and expanded its partnership with sticker and trading card company Topps, in a move that will lead to the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for the European soccer body’s club competitions.
The deal ensures that Topps will remain the exclusive and official collectibles partner of the Uefa Champions League, Uefa Women’s Champions League and the Uefa Europa League, as well as this year’s inaugural Uefa Conference League.
Details around the type of NFTs Topps will be creating are scarce at this stage, but the company confirmed it would be turning iconic moments into digital collectibles with the required third-party IP clearances.
Topps, which also has deals in soccer with Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America and Germany’s Bundesliga, has now been the official collectibles partner of Uefa’s club competitions for the last six years.
“It’s great to offer our community and football fans across Europe and the world not only the best players, but also the greatest moments in the upcoming seasons,” said Topps chief marketing officer Patrick Rausch. “As Uefa’s exclusive partner for collectibles, we are not only taking a huge step towards the future together, but we’re also taking collectibles to the next level.”
Uefa is the latest soccer organisation to enter the world of NFTs after Spain’s La Liga announced a deal last week with blockchain digital collectibles and fantasy platform Sorare.
The extended deal will come as somewhat of a boost after a difficult period for Topps, which last month saw its deal to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) fall through after it emerged that the business’ 70-year partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB) was coming to an end.
