When Panini launched the first international World Cup album in 1970, not even the Panini brothers could have foreseen how popular it would eventually become. Now, the market of football trading cards, trading card games, and stickers is enormous. Like the general sports trading cards industry, it is expected to continue growing in the coming years. With digital opportunities only adding to the popularity.
So, how large is the market of football cards? How profitable is it for players? And what trends are visible?
Growth of sports trading cards market
In 2025, the global sports trading card market has an estimated value of $9.21 billion.1 Which is forecasted to increase with a compound annual growth rate of 9.3 percent to $20.5 billion by 2034.
Historically, North America has been the main market for sports cards trading. With cards covering American sports like baseball and basketball, some of the most expensive and sought after. As football has been less popular in the country, the football cards market has a lot of growth potential. Especially now that the sport is growing rapidly in the US, due to increased viewership, the growth of the MLS with stars like Lionel Messi, the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup.
Panini
Three of the main producers of football cards are Panini, Fanatics Collectibles with cornerstone brand Topps, and Futera.
Panini is an Italian collectibles and publishing company who became popular in the 1960s with its football collections. In 1970, they started publishing an almanac on Italian football and partnered with FIFA to publish World Cup trading cards and a sticker album.
The worldwide launch of a World Cup album ignited an international market for collecting and trading football cards and stickers. By 2010, Panini sold their World Cup products in over 100 countries. While a Pelé signed edition of the 1970 World Cup sticker album sold for £10,450 in 2017.
For the 2022 World Cup, it was estimated that Panini would sell 100 million packets (a packet contains five stickers) in the US alone. While nearly a billion across the world. In the lead-up to major tournaments Panini can print 21 hours and 11 million sticker packets a day.2
It is not the cheapest hobby though. For a 2025 FIFA Club World Cup album and two boxes of 50 packets, fans pay €122.90. Yet, with 500 stickers there will be a lot of duplicates involved – despite Panini guaranteeing that no duplicates can be found within one packet.
The starter pack for the Adrenalyn XL cards of the Club World Cup, including a box of 50 cards, was priced at €112.95.
For a long time, Panini has been considered the main supplier of football cards. Not least due to their major licensing deals (e.g. FIFA competitions and Italian football). However, some of their major long-term partnerships – e.g. the Premier League and UEFA EUROs – have come to an end in recent years.
Major football card companies
| Company (founded) | Selection of partners | Products include |
|---|---|---|
| Panini
(Italy, 1961) |
FIFA, La Liga, Serie A, English Football League, England’s Women’s Super League | Stickers and albums, cards, blockchain |
| Fanatics – Topps
(US, 1938) |
UEFA, Premier League, Bundesliga, MLS, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern, PSG | Physical stickers and cards, digital trading cards |
| Futera
(Dubai, 1989) |
Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves, Newcastle United | Cards – autograph, memorabilia, headline, goal collection |
Fanatics’ Topps
Currently, Panini’s major competitor is Fanatics with their cornerstone brand Topps. In 2022, the American company bought Topps for a reported $500 million (Topps retained their candy business). Which is more than the market value of eight out of 20 2025/26 Premier League clubs in July 2025. Including Bournemouth (around $487 million) and West Ham (around $381 million).
Fanatics is a global digital sports platform selling licensed sports merchandise and collectibles. By buying Topps – whose trading card and entertainment division had sales of $368 in 2020 – they added a valuable business to their company.
After the takeover, Topps’ sales quadrupled to $1.6 billion in 2024. It accounted for 19.8 percent of Fanatics’ $8.1 billion in overall revenue (with commerce their main revenue source with $6.2 billion). Moreover, the Topps brand was considered their highest-margin business.
This rapid growth is partly due to and allows for valuable partnerships with major football entities. As of June 2025, Fanatics has replaced Panini as the Premier League’s official provider of trading cards, stickers and trading card games. With their brand Topps – which already partnered with the Premier League from 2007 to 2019 – they will have premium access to the 1.87 billion people who follow the Premier League worldwide.
Since the 2017/18 season, Topps has been the official partner of UEFA club competitions. Which they expanded in 2022, when Fanatics signed a six-year deal with UEFA for the European Championships and other national team competitions.
Fanatics’ Topps also partners with the Bundesliga, the J League, the MLS, and with clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and PSG.
Business synergies
2025/26 Champions League winner PSG signed a ten-year, multi-million-euro partnership with Fanatics in 2020. Giving them manufacturing rights for PSG apparel, headwear and hard goods. In return, the club gained access to Fanatics’ (then) 45 million active clients. In 2022, the deal was expanded with a multi-year exclusive licensing agreement with Topps to produce trading cards and stickers for the 13-time Ligue 1 champion.
It highlights how Fanatics’ broad business and digital marketplace is a major competitive advantage. It is a one-stop marketplace for sports fans, giving more value to both partners and fans.
Futera
Dubai based Futera produces unique trading cards and partners amongst others with Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves, and Newcastle United. Sold in boxes or mini cases, there are autograph cards (more valuable than regular image cards), memorabilia cards (include some kind of memorabilia, e.g. jersey swatch), goal cards, and headliner cards.
There is a high demand for the limited number cards, with many sold out despite the price.
The cards are high quality and often individually foil-numbered. For four goal cards of Tottenham’s 2024/25 season – of which only 50 copies exist – collectors pay $60. Whereas five headline cards – featuring key moments of the Spurs’ 2024/25 season – cost $75.
Most expensive cards
Generally, autograph cards, memorabilia cards and rookie cards are the most sought after.
With some of the most expensive sales being rookie cards. In 2022, a 1957 Pelé rookie card sold for $486,000. While a Lionel Messi rookie card sold for $322,080 in 2024. Another Messi card, a 2014 Panini World Cup Gold Prizm even sold for $522,000.3
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Right now, Lamina Yamal’s (rookie) cards are especially in high demand. With more than $2 million in sales between June of 2024 and 2025. A Topps Chrome UEFA Euro Superfractor 1/1 was even sold for $396,500 in June 2025. More than tripling the previous most expensive Yamal card, sold in September 2024.4
Most expensive sales of football cards [source: Vaulted3 & Yahoo4]
| What | Sale year | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 Panini Prizm World Cup Gold Prizm #12 Lionel Messi (#02/10) | 2022 | $522,000 |
| 1957 Balas Futebol #11 Pelé Rookie Card | 2022 | $486,000 |
| 2024 Lamine Yamal Topps Chrome UEFA Euro Superfractor 1/1 | 2025 | $396,500 |
| 1958 Alifabolaget Pelé #635 | 2021 | $372,000 |
| 2004-05 Panini Sports Megacracks #71BIS Lionel Messi Rookie Card | 2024 | $322,080 |
| 1946-47 Nannina Figurine Tecnicolor, Hand Cut Puskás Rookie Card | 2022 | $312,000 |
Players’ share
With such amounts of money circulating in the football cards market, the question is who profits from it. The card manufacturers generate revenue by selling their product. While distributors profit by putting a markup and selling to collectors. Licensing companies, like the player associations and clubs, receive revenue through their licensing deals.
Players should generally be compensated by the latter for using their image rights. With the amount depending on a player’s popularity. Back in the day, Panini had a deal with the English Professional Footballers Association and clubs were supposed to distribute the income to the players. However, this did not always happen.
In 2021, five former Ligue 1 players sued Panini over the use of their images. All Ligue 1 players received a fixed amount, €300 according to the French players’ union and €200 according to the players’ lawyer. The players demanded amounts between €50,000 and €500,000 depending on how often their images were used.
More expensive
Manufacturers are paying big money, and increasingly more, for these licenses. Image rights make it a difficult business though. For international tournaments, for example, they need to obtain the rights of the governing bodies, individual players and of national associations to use kit and national logo images.
For the 1970 World Cup, Panini reportedly paid a thousand dollar to FIFA for the rights to produce stickers.2 When FIFA and Panini extended their partnership for six years in 2009, the deal had a reported value of nearly $1 million. While GlobalData estimated Panini’s deal with the Premier League, which ended in 2025, to have been worth $3 million annually.
Digital
In recent years, a new option has developed for football card fans in addition to physical cards and stickers: digital trading cards. Even before NFTs and blockchain became widely popular, the market already noticed the potential of digital football cards.
Topps, for example, started creating digital sports cards in 2012. While FIFA and Panini launched a digital (free) version of the World Cup sticker album at the 2006 tournament. With every subsequent edition the interest has grown. During the 2014 tournament, 195 million virtual packets were opened, while 243 million stickers were swapped.
By 2018, FIFA launched an app (with 1.7 million downloads before the tournament even started), further driving engagement numbers and eclipsing earlier records. Five days into the tournament there were six million collectors.
FIFA Collect
Digital collectables have such potential that FIFA decided to launch FIFA Collect in 2022. The digital marketplace also sells Panini related collectables. The Italian edition of the 1970 Panini FIFA World Cup Album for example. Of the 49 collectables made available, number one and two are for sale for $5,000. With the cheapest available for $140. The international version had 153 copies, which the highest number currently on sale for $2,500.
The digital Panini collectable of Diego Maradona lifting the trophy at the 1986 World Cup is also on offer. Of the 49 given out, 12 are on sale with prices ranging between $225 and $10,010.
These digital football collectables and cards have added a whole new dimension to the football cards market. For now, the demand for both physical and digital cards and collectables seem by no means on the decline. Just the opposite, fans are looking for rare, unique cards in both realms.