The long-awaited return of a second licensee to the baseball card market has spawned many rumors on message boards and forums. At this point, however, that's all they are, rumors and speculation. The most likely scenario for adding a new license would be for the MLBPA to award a company with the rights to produce retired player content.
Frequently asked whether Panini would be bringing back Elite Extra Edition Baseball, the company gave a response last night via Twitter. Tweets from the company are provided by both Tracy Hackler and Scott Prusha, one of which, stated, “Many collectors have asked us about Donruss EEE Baseball in 2011, well . . . yes, we are doing it!"
With Topps having an exclusive deal for the rights to both MLB and MiLB products and Upper Deck having college rights with the Collegiate Licensing Company, it will be interesting to see what Panini manages to do with their product given the stringent guidelines of logo and uniform usage. Previous releases of the set have been very popular with prospectors, many of whom will be anxious to see the 2011 version. Watch for further details as they become available.
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