Another nail in Upper Deck's coffin.......

[AMAZIN HOF COLLECTOR]

The Upper Deck Company owes 229 current and former NFL players more than $1.25 million for autographs and photos according to a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the NFL Players Association this month.

The players' association says the trading card manufacturer has admitted it can't pay the royalties it agreed to give out when Upper Deck had a license to produce football cards. Among the players owed money according to the lawsuit are Peyton Manning ($32,100), Tony Romo ($180,000), Tim Tebow ($84,000) and Sam Bradford ($71,960). Some of the money was earmarked for charities designated by the players in their agreements with Upper Deck.

The lawsuit, filed in New York County Court and first reported by Courthouse News, also says Upper Deck owes money to the NFLPA and NFL Players Incorporated as part of the licensing agreements it signed in 2009 and 2010. The player agreements are in tandem with the card maker's overall deal with the organizations.

Among the other players Upper Deck owes according to the mammoth 287-page court filing include Eli Manning, Adrian Peterson, Chris Brown, Ndamukong Suh, Percy Harvin, Rob Gronkowski, Drew Brees, Mario Williams, Dez Bryant, Greg Jenning, Jason Pierre-Paul, A.J. Hawk, DeSean Jackson, Brian Westbrook, and Colt McCoy. Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Jack Lambert are owed money for the use of photographs, according to the suit.

The last few years haven't been pleasant for Upper Deck, which lost MLB, NFL and NBA licenses and was forced to trim staff, then faced a counterfeiting lawsuit from Konami Entertainment and is now facing allegations that company president Richard McWilliam showed up drunk to a court deposition in another suit filed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The NFL Players lawsuit comes two years after Upper Deck agreed to pay $3.06 million to Major League Baseball on a payment plan over a debt from the last year of its MLB partnership in 2009 and just three weeks after Major League Baseball Properties sued the company, claiming it was still due more than $265,000 under terms of a settlement reached between the two in 2010.

The NFLPA lawsuit claims Upper Deck tried at first to negotiate a payment plan over the outstanding debt because of its "financial situation" but that the Association "gave up hope that Upper Deck would honor its contractual commitments" and decided to air its grievances in court.

 

[Ty Hope]

My final redemption from them arrived last week. Now I can sit back and enjoy the show!

 

[Card Magnet]

Pros of UD sinking :
- The NCAA license would no longer be an exclusive, unless that contract is an asset that can be acquired by another company.
- Same as above pertaining to their exclusive athletes like Michael Jordan.

Cons of UD sinking :
- I like Upper Deck football products and don't want them to go away.
- Upper Deck also makes some great memorabilia pieces.
- UD is pretty hands on with their customers via social media. Topps and Panini don't respond to consumers (at least on facebook).
- A rep from UD has checked in from time to time on the football boards to give product news and field questions. I don't see any of the other guys doing that, with the exception of Leaf.
- Panini will probably buy them out and rape their corpse like they do to DLP.
- Less products on the market to choose from.
- Never enjoyable to see a company go under and have to fire staff.

I'm going to root for UD to pull out of this slump. Never give up hope!

 

[AK11]

Major Con to UD Sinking: Hockey products. Everybody loves buying the Cup every year, even collectors from other sports who try it for fun. If Panini takes sole possession of the hockey card market, I can hear the cries from lost souls already.

 

[WaxPax]

So which other card manufacturer swoops in and buys this trainwreck of a company when it hits the auction block??? Leaf- Panini -Topps?

 

[Sean_C]

I'd prefer Topps, but I'm guessing Panini.

So which other card manufacturer swoops in and buys this trainwreck of a company when it hits the auction block??? Leaf- Panini -Topps?

 

[leatherman]

So which other card manufacturer swoops in and buys this trainwreck of a company when it hits the auction block??? Leaf- Panini -Topps?

I don't know, but I'd be cautious about buying sheets of autographed stickers.

 

[mchenrycards]

I cant wait to see the transcripts of the deposition McWilliams will be giving in this case!! Any idea what the over/under is of himing showing up sober?

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Its definitely NOT easy being a manufacturer in this hobby of ours.

 

[agentjak]

I truly believe UD can revive themselves, so to speak, if UD got rid of the total incompetent morons that are running the place..I mean they need a total colon cleaning starting from the very top running down to the very bottom(yeah lots of pun intended) and get some seriously great leadership running the company and again, I do believe they can and could do well in the long run..just my .02!!

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

Upper Deck has been playing a shell game since day one...a hobby version of check kiting. Just keep floating right ahead of the next fiasco. Well, it's been catching up with them over the past 3 or so years.

I've been vocal about them for years, and I actually wish have of the crap that is rumored isn't true, but far too much appears to be true. The next Upper Deck produced product I'll be really interested in seeing is the bankruptcy filing, until then, I'll be happy picking up their hockey singles.

 

[ljw29]

Jordan owns part of UDA is it a surprise he is killing his NBA Team, sucked as a GM for the Wizards. There is a reason he does not run the Jordan Brand and Phil Knight will not let him have control beyond a certain level of input

 

[goldenegg1]

I don't think Jordan owns any of Upper Deck.

 

[gt2590]

I don't think Jordan owns any of Upper Deck.

Yeah, I don't think he does either.

His brother was a key executive with them, but I don't know if he's still there or not... :?

 

[rsmath]

how much longer until credit agencies downgrade UD's credit-worthiness and licensees and associations require payment up front from UD?

 

[hoos]

I know someone who handles local autograph sessions for them, and hasn't been paid the few hundred $$ they owe him. They also cancelled a session last minute recently.

 

[ljw29]

I don't think Jordan owns any of Upper Deck.

Yeah, I don't think he does either.

His brother was a key executive with them, but I don't know if he's still there or not... :?

At one point MJ did (past couple years) he must have sold his stake then

 

[wickedliquids]

It's McWilliams. It's ALWAYS BEEN McWilliams.

He, and he alone, has ruined UD. His miserable failure in running and operating what once was the best in sports cards has gone to nearly dust. I've spoken out against him on numerous occasions, especially after his "Dale Murphy" reverse negative fiasco, and have been weary in buying UD products. I NEVER know what is fake, what is real, or what "hot" card will be magically reproduced in larger quantities at a later date. In fact, it would not surprise me one day to find 100 copies of a same card numbered 1/1 - all because he wanted to make a buck.

His flagrant forgeries, consistent lying, unethical and immoral decisions...I'm still in disbelief that he has employees at UD and they're actually getting paid! (or they're getting paid in forged memorabilia).

It's quite upsetting to see what was once a king in our hobby turned into the court jester.

I would doubt Panini would purchase UD due to it's debt ratio. I don't have hard numbers, but just from the article alone, it's unsettling - that article only listed the higher dollar players, not counting all the other little amounts ($5K or $10K here and there) and take into consideration the number of players in the NFL...I can only assume it's a lot of money. That's a LOT of debt to take on with property that I would consider significantly questionable.

My best opinion would be that UD file for bankruptcy, get bought out from the hobby when it can be purchased for nearly nothing, THEN Leaf go in and buy it, let the UD brand stay dormant for a few years, then revive it at a later date. I can't endorse Panini as although some of their stuff is good, it's just not that GREAT.

 

[Sean_C]

The only real value they have at this point is their exclusive contracts. For their sake, I hope they are paying Jordan, Tiger, and LeBron...

 

[Crash Davis]

A bankruptcy filing by Upper Deck could prove disastrous for the hobby.

Just think about the sheer amount of autographed LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods memorabilia that would flood the market at pennies on the dollar in order to pay their creditors.

There are a lot of dealers, many prominent ones, as well as collectors, who are sitting on UDA stuff that would take a huge hit in value. Huge actually might be an understatement.

There is undoubtedly a warehouse full of unopened product, some of it high-end, as well as unfilled redemptions and leftovers and inventory, not to mention game-used equipment, just waiting to hit the market at pennies on the dollar.

Collectively, the Hobby should cross their fingers and toes in the hopes that UD gets bought by Leaf or Panini so that doomsday is avoided.