Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard has signed an exclusive autographed memorabilia deal with Fanatics, the company announced Wednesday.
The agreement makes Fanatics the exclusive distributor of Bedard’s licensed memorabilia, including jerseys, pucks, sticks, helmets, gloves, photographs and select game-used equipment.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard won Rookie of the Year in 2024 while scoring 61 total points, including 22 goals, in 68 games.
“I’m very excited to be working with Fanatics and join their amazing team of athletes across all sports,” Bedard said in a statement. “Getting to know their group and learn about all the work they put into creating really special memorabilia for fans has been awesome. As the season gets underway, I’m looking forward to sharing what we are releasing together.”
In addition to expanding Fanatics’ NHL roster, which currently includes Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin, the deal lands a blow to trading card manufacturer Upper Deck by splitting Bedard’s autographs between the two companies.
Bedard signed an exclusive autographed trading card deal with Upper Deck in 2023, and the agreement with Fanatics prevents Upper Deck from adding Bedard to its lineup of exclusive NHL athletes that currently includes Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid, Patrick Roy, Alexis Lafrenière and Bobby Orr.
Most associated with its dominance in hockey trading cards, Upper Deck has made licensed cards for the NHL since 1990 and held the exclusive NHL license since the 2014-2015 season. The NHL and NHLPA extended that exclusive deal with Upper Deck in 2021, while the NBA and NFL, along with their respective players associations, jumped from Panini America to Fanatics, with deals starting in 2025 and 2026.
Widely considered the best prospect since McDavid, Bedard’s first rookie cards ignited the hobby last year, even inspiring a number of collectors to pick up hockey products for the first time. According to data tool Market Movers, Bedard’s key 2023 Upper Deck Young Guns Base PSA 10 has sold more than 1,100 times over the last 365 days, with a high price of $4,000.
The chase for Bedard’s cards was also aided by a $1 million bounty placed on his Young Guns OutBurst Gold 1/1 by online retailer Dave and Adam’s Card World.
Fanatics’ deal with Bedard is the company’s latest push into the NHL market, which last made a major step in June when it released its new NHL jerseys. Held by adidas for the last seven years, Fanatics’ 10-year jersey deal starts this upcoming season.
The Bedard deal is also the latest example of athlete autographs being split between trading card manufacturers. While Upper Deck’s trading card deal with Bedard protects card collectors moving forward, fans of the NBA and NFL haven’t been so lucky.
So far, collectors have been frustrated most by deals made by Victor Wembanyama and C.J. Stroud. While those two can sign autographs for Fanatics, Panini America currently holds exclusive rights to make licensed trading cards for the NBA and the NFL, forcing collectors to choose between licensed rookie cards without signatures or unlicensed cards with them.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct.