When Inter Miami forward and former Liverpool and Barcelona star Luis Suarez makes his Major League Soccer debut on Wednesday against Real Salt Lake, he will be part of a new MLS collectibles launch.
Fanatics Collectibles is expanding its on-field program to Major League Soccer, introducing Topps MLS Debut Patch Autograph trading cards for every player who is new to MLS this season.
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As part of the partnership, after players take part in their first game, the patch on the upper-right chest of their jerseys will be removed and later placed in Topps trading card packs. The debut patch autograph cards will then be included in Topps products by the end of the year. Topps has made MLS trading cards since 2012.
Fanatics owns Topps after buying the classic trading-card company in 2022.
“We launched a similar program last year with MLB, and it was wildly successful, hailed as one of the most innovative products in decades,” said Kelvin Smith, the global head of licensing and partnerships at Fanatics Collectibles, in a video call.
“The match-worn memorabilia is a big piece of the collection industry, the entire basis of collectibles is trying to find a way for fans to connect with their favorite athletes.”
With MLB, the collectibles company launched 91 cards in 2023. Some are sold in the secondary market in the four-to-five-digit range.
In addition to Suarez, other notable newcomers who are expected to have the debut cards this season are French national team goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who joined LAFC; Emil Forsberg (N.Y. Red Bulls); Gabriel Pec (LA Galaxy); Pedro de la Vega (Seattle Sounders FC); Agustin Ojeda (New York City FC); and Bartosz Slisz (Atlanta United FC).
The Topps debut patches will make their first appearance during the league’s “MLS is Back” week, which features a slate of matches on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
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