Panini takes £11m sales hit after losing Premier League licence
Panini’s UK turnover fell by more than 20% in 2025 after the company lost its Premier League sticker licence to Fanatics, highlighting the financial importance of major sports intellectual property to the collectables business.
According to City AM, Panini’s UK business suffered a sharp decline in sales during 2025 after losing the exclusive licence to produce Premier League player stickers.Turnover at the Italian company’s UK subsidiary fell by more than 20% to £43.3m, down from £54.5m a year earlier, after Panini’s long-running Premier League agreement came to an end.Panini UK managing director Mark Riddell said: “The company’s performance is largely dependent upon the quality and availability of sport and entertainment licences and the retention of key senior employees.“The Premier League licence expired in 2025, however, the directors are confident that the investment in acquiring new licences and the strength of current sport & entertainment licences will ensure operating profit forecasts can be maintained.”Panini lost the Premier League licence to Fanatics in 2024 and stopped producing stickers for the competition at the end of the 2024-25 season in June 2025.The decline underlines how valuable exclusive sports licences can be to collectables businesses, where access to clubs, player imagery and competition branding directly determines the products companies are able to take to market.Riddell said: “Significant investment continues to be made in acquiring licences for future products.”Despite the fall in turnover, Panini improved profitability during the year. Profit after tax almost doubled to £2.5m, with the company attributing the increase partly to favourable foreign exchange gains.The results therefore show a contrasting picture, with underlying sales affected by the loss of one of Panini’s most important domestic football properties even as currency movements helped support the bottom line.Panini has continued investing in other major football rights. The company retains a long-standing relationship with FIFA dating back to the 1970 World Cup and this year used those rights in a retail partnership with M&S around the World Cup.The promotion included official national-team sticker packs covering England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, with customers also receiving free packs based on spending in stores.Fanatics, which replaced Panini as the Premier League’s sticker licensee, also recorded weaker UK sales during 2025. Its turnover fell 8% to £360m, primarily following the end of its Manchester United partnership.Panini’s results illustrate the revenue exposure created by changes in major sports licensing portfolios, with the loss or acquisition of a single premium property capable of materially affecting sales for businesses built around officially licensed merchandise.