Things to Know: Understanding Sports Card Licenses

Understanding the nuances of trading card licensing is an important part of collecting, as it affects everything from the look of the card to its long-term value and appeal. Let's break down how licensing works and explain why it matters. For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll use baseball cards featuring MLB players as our primary example.

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There are two types of licenses that determine what can appear on an MLB player’s card:

MLB License (League License): This license comes from the MLB and lets card companies use official team logos, names, uniforms, and other branding, like World Series logos or team trademarks. Without it, a manufacturer can’t show these team elements on their cards.

MLBPA License (Players Association License): This license comes from the MLB Players Association and allows companies to use player names and photos. Without it, a manufacturer can’t show any player’s name or likeness on their cards.

A baseball card with only one of these two licenses is often worth less because it can’t show both the player and the official team branding, which limits its authenticity and appeal to collectors.

To use an example, let’s take these two Shohei Ohtani rookie cards shown below. Both are 1-of-1 cards from his rookie season, graded the same, and even feature the same pose. The first, from Panini Donruss Optic (unlicensed from the MLB), sold for $9,600. The second, from Topps Chrome (fully licensed with both MLB and MLBPA rights), sold for $139,200. The licensing makes all the difference here, as the Topps card includes official team logos and branding, while the Panini card does not.

That said, this isn’t a hard rule. Unlicensed cards can still be valuable if they’re rare or unique, as supply and demand is what really matters. This is simply what collectors have tended to value historically.