BREAKING: ANGEL REESE AND PANINI AMERICA AGREE TO WORK FOR MULTIYEARS

On Wednesday, Panini America and former LSU basketball star Angel Reese announced a multiyear relationship.

According to the company, Reese’s signed trading cards and memorabilia are part of the unique partnership. A representative declined to provide the deal’s exact financials.

Reese is getting ready for Monday’s WNBA Draft. She is predicted to go No. 8 to the Chicago Sky, who also own the No. 3 choice in the draft, according to ESPN’s most recent mock draft. After Reese is chosen by a team on draft night, Panini indicated that her first consumer product will be a Panini Instant card.

Jason Howarth, senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations at Panini America, said in a statement, “We are thrilled to welcome Angel to the Panini family as an exclusive athlete. She is an incredible talent and an electric player.”

Reese’s LSU team defeated Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes to win the 2023 national championship, then lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight of this year’s tournament. Reese finished her four-year college career averaging 18.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

Clark signed an exclusive partnership in early March with Panini America in a multiyear agreement worth over $1 million in the first year of the deal, according to a source familiar with the terms who was granted anonymity because of the private nature of the agreement.

Clark was the first female athlete to have partnership exclusivity covering trading cards and signed memorabilia. Reese is the second.