Panini America Inks Exclusive Autograph Trading Card And Memorabilia Deals With Top NBA Draft Prospects Marquese Chriss And Buddy Hield

IRVING, Texas, June 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Panini America, the world's largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, and the exclusive trading card and collectible sticker partner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced today that it has reached exclusive autograph trading card and memorabilia agreements with University of Washington forward Marquese Chriss and University of Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield, both of whom are projected top-10 picks in Thursday's 2016 NBA Draft presented by State Farm.

The exciting young players will be featured prominently throughout Panini America's 2016-17 NBA and Collegiate Basketball product seasons as well as in NBA Dunk, the company's digital trading card app. Panini America will offer a special Draft Night sneak peek of the players' NBA Dunk cards in real-time Thursday night on social media.

The first trading cards of both players will arrive in the October 5 release of Panini America's 2016-17 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball. Their first NBA Rookie Cards will arrive one week later in the company's iconic NBA Hoops Basketball brand.

In addition, both Hield and Chriss join Panini as exclusive memorabilia athletes via Panini Authentic.  Other exclusive athletes for memorabilia include Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin and John Wall.

"There's a lot of excitement surrounding the 2016 NBA Draft Class and these two players are a big reason why," said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. "As we look to the start of a new NBA trading card season and the importance every new rookie crop plays in our success, we can't wait to get started."

Hield, who averaged 25 points per game during his final season at Oklahoma, is a two-time Big 12 Player of the Year and the 2016 Naismith College Player of the Year. In his only season at Washington, Chriss averaged 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

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, 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
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160623/382894

SOURCE Panini America

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