By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Panini America has announced a multi-year partnership with the amateur baseball talent organization, Area Code Baseball.
For the long-term partnership, Panini will create licensed trading cards for the amateur athletes competing in the organization’s Area Code Games baseball event.
The Area Code Games is a six-day talent showcase that features more than 240 youth players from eight different regional baseball teams.
Taking place from August 6 to 11 in California, the 2025 edition of the event features talent scouts from all 30 MLB teams and coaches from multiple collegiate programs across the country.
The coaches and scouts are working to evaluate the youth and high school baseball players performance for potential recruitment to their professional teams.
“Entering our 39th year, Area Code Baseball is excited to kick off our partnership with Panini America, the worldwide leader in collectibles,” said Area Code Baseball VP, Ronny Torres. “With a shared passion for serving the present and future generations of baseball, partnering together made too much sense and through this collaboration we look forward to continuing our pursuit of delivering the best opportunities for our Area Code Games participants.”
As an additional part of the partnership, Panini will have a significant presence at other Area Code Baseball events such as the Underclass Games and the ID Series.
The two organizations will also collaborate on a selection of marketing initiatives.
“We believe in empowering and celebrating athletes at all levels,” said Panini SVP, Jason Howarth. “Partnering with Area Code Baseball, which has provided opportunities for players to realize their baseball dreams for nearly 40 years, is a great way to reinforce our support of young athletes. We look forward to working with the team at Area Code Baseball and to the Area Code Games.”
The Panini Group is a global company that specializes in creating officially licensed collectibles for sports and entertainment properties.
With distribution channels in more than 150 countries, the company creates licensed products for high-profile sports brands like the NFL, FIFA, Professional Fighters League, NBA, NASCAR, LIV Golf and more.
Panini America operates as the company’s dedicated US-based subsidiary.
Image Source: The Panini Group.