Who Makes Cards Now

The short version: a new NFL, NBA or MLB card with team logos is a Topps card, and new NHL cards are Upper Deck. Fanatics owns Topps. CNBC reports it paid $500 million for the company in 2022.

League by league

NFL. ESPN reported on April 2, 2026 that Fanatics, under the Topps brand, would make "fully licensed NFL cards for the first time since 2016." ESPN called it a 20-year deal, starting with 2025 Topps Chrome Football on April 15. The players' union side of the deal began in 2023.

NBA. The league's own release, dated Oct. 15, 2025, names Topps the "official exclusive trading card licensee" for the NBA and the players' union. The first set was 2025-26 Topps Basketball on Oct. 23, 2025.

MLB. This one is second-hand. ESPN reported in August 2021 that a Fanatics company would become the exclusive licensee once the Panini and Topps player licenses ended after 2022, and that Topps' MLB deal ran through 2025. CNBC's 2026 report gives both 2023 and 2025 for when the league deal was due to start. We found no MLB statement to settle that. Topps belonging to Fanatics since 2022 is the part that matters for a buyer today.

NHL. Also second-hand. CNBC reports the NHL extended Upper Deck's licenses, which began in 1990, on a "long-term" basis. It gives no end date.

Why a license matters when you buy

Logos. A license is what lets a card show team logos and uniforms. Panini still makes basketball and baseball cards, but Topps holds the exclusive rights for those leagues. Customer reviews on Target's page for 2025-26 Panini Prizm Basketball call it unlicensed and say the jerseys show no team logo.

Rookie status. Upper Deck's glossary calls a rookie card "a player's first-year card," and hobby usage leans toward licensed cards. An unlicensed card of a young player can be a nice card and still not be the one collectors treat as his rookie.

Reading the title. Store listings don't always help. Target's copy for that same box opens "Panini presents the 2025-26 NBA Prizm Basketball Blaster Box!" and says nothing about a license. Best packs marks the products we know are unlicensed.

Panini-era cards

Panini held the NFL and NBA licenses before Topps. Cards it made under those licenses were licensed then and stay that way. They keep trading: many of the football and basketball rookies in Cards to know are Panini Prizm cards. Some are still on shelves too. Target had 2024-25 Panini Donruss mega boxes at $44.99 and 2025 Panini Select football blasters at $29.99 on Nov. 5.

New Panini product hasn't stopped. Target also carried 2025-26 Prizm Basketball and 2026 Prizm Baseball blasters at $29.99, and Midwest Cards' calendar lists 2025-26 Panini Select Basketball for Nov. 16. When the league license has moved on, check what you're buying.

Panini sued Fanatics in 2023, alleging an attempt to monopolize the market for major league cards. Fanatics countersued. CNBC called the case ongoing in May 2026. We don't know how it ends or what that would mean for cards already on the market.

One group, many roles

Fanatics now sits behind the main licenses in three of the four leagues, and it also runs Fanatics Live, a live-selling app. So the pack, the break and the resale can all run through one group. Compare prices somewhere else as well.

Nothing here predicts prices. We can't tell you what Panini-era cards will do, and neither can anyone else. Cards are a hobby, not an investment.

Facts checked Nov 5, 2026.