Panini Sued by Wild Card in Breaking Card News

Panini America has been named the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Wild Card in a court filing that was filed today. The briefing outlines accusations of violating federal laws such as the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the Clayton Act.

Panini, interestingly, has made similar claims to Topps in the past. Panini finds itself seemingly involved in both lawsuits, but on opposite sides of the same coin. This contradiction was highlighted last week when Panini hired Citibank to help them find possible buyers while at the same time claiming that Topps will make it harder to be profitable moving forward. Wild Card seems to be claiming that Panini has already interfered with their business practices.

The Accusations

According to the court filing, Wild Card has accused Panini of "weaponizing it's dominance to choke off Wild Card's emergent trading-card brand." In addition, Wild Card alleges that "on November 10-11, four major distributors abruptly withdrew from profitable ongoing Wild Card orders despite strong demand and no performance issues". Lastly, the claim is made that Panini's "threats and retaliation" preserved their (Panini's) market power, leaving consumers to pay higher prices and to have fewer options.

While these are allegations at this stage, the accusations could be a serious issue within the hobby, and could cause drastic shockwaves into the hobby world. In an interview with Collectables on SI, Paul Lesko, known as the Hobby Lawyer, "My first thought was holy cow another anti-trust lawsuit in The Hobby. The interesting thing is this case looks back at previous actions by Panini while Panini's lawsuit of Topps looks at future repercussions."

Who is Wild Card?

Back in 2021, Wild Card burst back on the scene with array of sports cards products after being out of the hobby for a number of years. They produce non-licensed trading card products, including the brands Matte, 5 Card Draw, and Alumination.