Panini America Inks Exclusive Trading Card, Autograph Deal With Portland Trail Blazers Star Damian Lillard

IRVING, Texas, May 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Panini America (http://paniniamerica.net), the world's largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the exclusive trading card partner of the NBA, USA Basketball and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, today announced that it has signed Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard to a multiyear exclusive agreement for autographed trading cards and memorabilia.

Lillard's first autographed trading cards under the new agreement will be randomly inserted into Panini America's 2016-17 National Treasures Basketball product, which releases this week. His autographed memorabilia is available now through Panini Authentic, the company's memorabilia division that also maintains exclusive relationships with NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, John Wall and Blake Griffin.

This will mark the first time since Lillard's 2013 rookie season that his autographs have appeared in Panini America products.

"I'm genuinely excited to be a part of the Panini-exclusive family with the elite players in the game," Lillard said. "I look forward to working closely with Panini America to create some unique trading cards and memorabilia pieces for fans and collectors to appreciate. The partnership has been awesome so far, and it's only going to get better."

"Damian is absolutely one of the most popular and exciting players in the NBA today and his star is on the rise," said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. "He's a bona fide superstar and a perfect fit to join the exclusive fraternity of Panini Authentic exclusive athletes. We've thoroughly enjoyed watching him blossom since entering the NBA. Now we get the opportunity to work closely with him to the benefit of his countless fans and collectors."

ABOUT PANINI:
The Panini Group, established more than 50 years ago in Modena, Italy, has subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States.  Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles and is the most significant publisher of collectibles in the U.S., with official licenses for NFL, NFLPA, NBA, MLBPA, NHL, NHLPA, College, FIFA, MLBPA, USA Baseball, Disney, and other key properties from many other licensors. Panini is also the exclusive trading card and sticker partner of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. Panini has distribution channels in more than 100 countries and employs a staff of over 800. For more information visit us at www.paniniamerica.net, www.paninigroup.com or http://blog.paniniamerica.net/. You can also follow Panini America on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

Media Contact:  
Tracy Hackler, Panini America
214-552-3475
thackler@paniniamerica.net

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SOURCE Panini America