If only TOPPS had the rights to March Madness. If they did (all the licensing of images of players is now up in the air since the O’Bannon lawsuit) then the card company could be doing for Villanova fans what they will be doing for baseball fans all summer with the launch of TOPPS NOW.
Announced on Monday, TOPPS will cull through thousands of images every night and provide the next day, the best pictures from MLB. This could be one or two, mascots or bat flips, on a card for fans to purchase. The hope for TOPPS is that this will make the card business more nimble than ever and create a new revenue stream by giving the fans what they want and have never really had; instant collectible memories, for a limited time.
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The digital only service will be an unlimited run that fans can purchase for 24 hours; then it’s on to the next day’s game, but it will create instant collectables to last a lifetime. “TOPPS NOW was inspired by input from our passionate baseball fans,” said Clay Luraschi, Topps ’Vice President of Product Development said in a statement. “Magical moments will be captured on baseball cards the very next day, giving fans everywhere a chance to own a piece of history almost immediately.”
Don’t miss the 1st card of #TOPPSNOW w/ Francisco Liriano’s 10K performance on Opening Day. https://t.co/ArH8N6fgPB pic.twitter.com/uoHtELvBbm
— Topps Company (@toppscards) April 5, 2016
The use of on demand cards is the latest step by TOPPS to keep up with the demand for a more fluid business, and to help keep MLB more relevant in the eyes of consumers who are much more about the present and the immediate than the past.
.@Royals celebrated the World Series on Opening Day. Don’t miss the #TOPPSNOW card for it https://t.co/WyIGpMQzXT pic.twitter.com/51tpxGEaVN
— Topps Company (@toppscards) April 5, 2016
While there is still a growing market for traditional cards from years gone by, TOPPS realizes for the brand to keep expanding it needs to be as current as possible, and nothing is more current than the images we see splashed across sports sites and social media from last night’s game.
TOPPS has said they will be looking into adding partners to cull fan reaction into the process going forward, but for now it will be a daily company decision to select the best images.
If only Kris Jenkins played for the Phillies.