Description
Panini is an Italian company that produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items through its collectibles and publishing subsidiaries. It is headquartered in Modena and named after the Panini brothers who founded it in 1961. Panini distributes its own products, and products of third party providers. Panini maintains a Licensing Division to buy and resell licences and provide agency for individuals and newspapers seeking to purchase rights and comic licences. Through Panini Digital the company uses voice-activated software to capture football statistics, which is then sold to agents, teams, media outlets and video game manufactures.
New Media operates Panini's on-line applications, and generates income through content and data sales. Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first FIFA World Cup sticker album for the 1970 World Cup. Since then, collecting and trading stickers and cards has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation. In 2017, a 1970 World Cup Panini sticker album signed by Pelé sold for a record £10,450.
Up until 2015, Panini produced stickers and trading cards for the UEFA Champions League. As of 2019, Panini had licence rights of football international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and Copa América, as well as domestic leagues including the Premier League (from the 2019–20 season), Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, Hrvatska Nogometna Liga, and Argentine Primera División among others.
