Panini To Present Hall Of Fame With The World’s Largest Trading Card 

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Panini America (www.paniniamerica.net), a subsidiary of The Panini Group, the leading global publisher of sports and entertainment collectables will bring Basketball Legends and the Adrenalyn Tour to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend (March 13-14) for basketball skills activities, games and giveaways.  In addition, Panini will present the Basketball Hall of Fame with the World’s Largest Signed Game-Used Jersey Card, which was authenticated by Guinness at the NBA All-Star Game in Dallas.  The life-size card of Kobe Bryant which includes a 15-inch-by-15-inch swatch of an official jersey he wore in a game and was autographed by him measured 7-feet high by 4-feet, 11inches wide and will be on display at the Hall of Fame.

Panini Adrenalyn Weekend festivities will include:

• Distribution of more than 10,000 packs of Adrenalyn Cards and Game Boards to Hall of Fame visitors
• Appearances by Basketball Hall of Famer, Sam Jones and Boston Basketball Legends, Satch Sanders and Jo Jo White playing kids in games of Adrenalyn and coaching kids in basketball skills activities
• Participants will also be able to play the Adrenalyn Game online through Adrenalyn Kiosks
• Special Virtual Adrenalyn Cards of NBA Legends, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson and Scottie Pippen that can only be uploaded from the Basketball Hall of Fame
• Youth basketball games throughout the weekend

"The Basketball Hall of Fame is pleased to welcome Panini America and the Adrenalyn Tour to Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. "The weekend of March 13-14 will be a terrific time to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame as the Adrenalyn Tour makes its only stop in New England. I'd like to thank Panini America for its very active role as a new, multi-year marketing partner of the Basketball Hall of Fame and we look forward to an exciting weekend of basketball activities."

The Basketball Hall of Fame is one of the stops on the Panini Adrenalyn Tour, a 13-city tour that includes a Tour Bus featuring images of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings and Dirk Nowitzki.

“We are excited to present the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the World’s Largest Signed Game-Used Jersey Card to be put on display and we look forward to a great weekend of basketball festivities,” said Scott Prusha, Marketing Manager for Panini America.

Adrenalyn is an interactive trading card game, geared to children ages 6 to 11, that brings together the excitement of the NBA with the thrill of collecting a 450-card set featuring NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, among many others. 

The front of each Adrenalyn card features an offensive, defensive, and overall rating so kids can play the game using the Adrenalyn game board. The unique authorization code on the back of each card allows kids to upload their cards online to a virtual collector’s album and play the game at www.paniniadrenalyn.com, a safe and secure site. Adrenalyn cards, collector’s kits and starter sets are available at all major retail stores including Wal-Mart, Target, Toys “R” Us, Kmart, The Dollar Store and Miami Hoops Gear, and online at NBAStore.com and at the NBA Store in New York City.

Panini will distribute four million Adrenalyn trading card packs and 2.5 million game boards to introduce the interactive game to kids across the country throughout the remainder of the NBA season.  Distribution will take place through a multifaceted program that includes newspaper insert activations, Adrenalyn Nights at NBA games and a multi-city Adrenalyn Tour that will visit retail locations, high-traffic areas, NBA arenas and youth sports organizations.  An integrated advertising campaign geared toward kids, which will include TV, print, radio, online and viral campaigns featuring NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant, will support the Adrenalyn product.

To learn more about the Adrenalyn Tour and event stops, watch videos, and view photos from each tour stop, visit www.paniniadrenalyn.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NBAAdrenalyn.

About Panini 

The Panini Group, established almost 50 years ago in Modena, Italy has subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States.  Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectables and is the leading multi-national publisher of comics, children’s magazines and Manga in Europe and Latin America. Panini has distribution channels in more than 100 countries and employs a staff of over 800. For more information visit us at www.paniniamerica.net or www.paninigroup.com.