MLB Stages National Baseball Card Giveaway
In a move calculated to build baseball card sales and spark additional opening day buzz, Major League Baseball has dubbed Saturday “National Baseball Card Day” with giveaways to celebrate the occasion.
It’s billed as the second such annual occasion, but don’t worry about missing last year’s observance: the last one was in 2006. Packs of Topps and Upper Deck cards created exclusively for the day will be distributed for free to fans at Toys “R” Us outlets and participating trading card shops around the country.
“One of the things that we all know about baseball cards is that everyone loves to open up a pack of baseball cards,” said Colin Hagen, vice president of licensing for Major League Baseball Properties. “We’re coming into opening day, so we’re combining the time-honored practice of opening card packs with opening day to kick off the season.”
MLB Clubhouse Shops and MLB.com, Major League Baseball’s Web site, will also be offering the special card packs.
Each pack will contain six Topps and six Upper Deck cards, seeded with both high profile stars such as David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, David Wright and Derek Jeter, along with young up-and-coming players.
The free card giveaway is primarily aimed at the youngest baseball fans.
“It’s really important to get these into kids’ hands,” Hagen said. “It’s one of the first touch points for kids on getting to know the teams and the players.”
MLB Properties has seen a 20% rise in card sales over each of the last two seasons, according to Hagen. He said designating Topps and Upper Deck as its sole official licensees two years ago and jettisoning relationships with other card makers solidified the business.
Currently, 47% of U.S. youngsters aged 8 to 12 claim to be baseball card collectors, according to research from KidSay Tracker. That’s a five-fold percentage increase among kids prior to MLB Properties’ dual licensee strategy.
Hobby stores and retailers who participated in a similar giveaway around Father’s Day two years ago reported results dramatically boosted sales. Hagen said National Baseball Card Day would now be a fixture on the MLB schedule.
