Another nail in the Upper Deck coffin as NFL says no more

First ever Upper deck NFL trading card.

Once proud internationally recognized Upper Deck has perhaps just received another nail in its trading card coffin. After almost 20 years the National Football League is no longer allowing the Upper Deck Company to make football trading cards. The company will still produce memorabilia through its Upper Deck Authenticated program but when it comes to trading cards there will only be one; Panini. Topps previously saw the NFL choose not to renew its license for cards as well. The move leaves UD with only one major sports license and that is the National Hockey League. The NHL has traditionally been the least desirable of the four major sports licenses.

"With the understanding that we are called baseball card stores, I sell more NFL products than any other sport and to lose Upper Deck from the football market will negatively impact my business even more than when they left MLB," said Mike Fruitman of Mike's Stadium Sports in Aurora, CO. "Having been in this business for almost twenty years, I've seen too many collectors simply go away as their favorite brands were eliminated, that money will not convert to other releases on a dollar for dollar basis."

This reporter wrote last year in a different forum Upper Deck was on the verge of being on the outside looking in with the NFL but at the time the league chose to keep two trading card makers in the mix. Rumors persist Upper Deck is in its latter days and since Panini picked up an NHL license for trading cards weeks ago the indication seems to be the NHL was looking for a back up plan in case UD folds. Upper Deck still has a collegiate football license and makes non-sports cards.

"Over the past year, Upper Deck has attempted to negotiate a new licensing deal with NFL Properties, unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were not able to reach agreeable terms, and therefore will not be issuing any NFL Properties-licensed trading cards for the 2010 season," said CEO Richard McWilliam in a statement. "Upper Deck will continue to focus on its exclusive license agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company and co-exclusive agreements with NHL Enterprises and the NHL Players’ Association, as well as its multiple entertainment licenses."

The past year has not been kind to the Carlsbad, California based trading card maker. It lost a battle with Konami in court and has to pay millions to the Japanese game maker. Upper Deck admitted it had counterfeited Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh cards. UD had been the sole distributor of YGO cards in the United States for several years and profited heavily from it. It settled what would have been a messy court battle with Major League Baseball when it tried to challenge baseball's licensing rules. More millions down the tubes with the settlement. Throw in the loss of the NBA card license and Upper Deck went from dominant to near death. Rumors persist about layoffs and internal problems when it comes to finances.

"I don't understand Richard's (McWilliam) game plan losing one after another; the NBA, MLB, NFL, Konami, he's certainly not trying to grab new collectors," said hobby store consultant Dave Rodriguez of Sports Source in Burbank, CA. "One company can't be exclusive for the majority of the sports, there has to be competition, it's not good for the hobby or the business end of the industry."

The fact there is only one card manufacturer making NFL trading cards shows how drastically the industry has changed world wide in the past 18 years. In 1991 when the NFL was doing battle with its players union there were 16 manufacturers making NFL licensed trading cards. They even made them for the NFL World League. They all either folded their tents or merged with other card makers before those firms folded their tents. The names Wild Card, Pro Set, Collectors Edge and Pacific are but a distant memory for collectors.

Trading cards were the cash cows used by the NFL Players Association to finance its legal battles with the league. Many sets were licensed by only the NFLPA and later Players INC. A football license was a license to print cash and the PA made the most of it hauling down tens of millions of dollars in royalties.

At one time Upper Deck was the king of the industry internationally and was the first major card maker to introduce World Cup trading cards in 1994 with an exclusive license. The cards still remain  a crowning achievement in World Cup history. The company used its unique photographic theme to capture players as they are on and off the pitch.

When basketball cards began making inroads to Asia and Europe it was Upper Deck which led the way and stayed long after Fleer fell by the wayside. UD eventually bought the Fleer name after the company went under. Upper Deck produced cards using Chinese text as well as in French and some eastern European languages.

Today the company is a shell of what it once was and while McWilliam may walk away with his own millions made over the years the company itself may soon be just a memory for collectors who once eyed the idea of collecting premium trading cards made by innovative people. One former UD executive sees things differently.

"I think Richard is pretty resilient and politically savvy as far as trying to whittle his way through certain situations and I expect something in the future will happen to help Upper Deck make it through," said Tony Loiacono, who was a key player in UD's marketing efforts in the early 1990's. "When I left Upper Deck we were the number two sports brand behind Nike and to think it would falter really hurts, but I think there may be something down the road, such as in the digital world which might help this industry and Upper Deck."

None the less there are skeptics regarding the survival of UDC, or at least at what level is survives. Perhaps the fact the company chose a guy who failed quickly in the NFL as its first player on its very first set of cards tells the tale. After years of decent NFL trading cards football just wasn't in the cards for Upper Deck or Dan McGwire (baseball player Mark's brother).

Or as one collector put it on an Internet chat site, "RIP Upper Deck. While you helped bring the hobby where it is today from a quality perspective you also helped kill the hobby from an accessibility perspective."