Back in September, it was reported that WWE had terminated its contract with trading card company Panini over an alleged breach of contract. Panini subsequently responded by filing suit against WWE over the contract termination which has been ongoing over the last few months but now seems to finally be coming to an end.
Earlier today, new court documents emerged revealing that the two sides have come to an agreement in principle. This follows conversations and settlement proposals exchanged between WWE CEO Nick Khan and two Panini executives throughout October and November, the most recent of which occurred yesterday. The resolution is currently being put into writing which will seemingly mark the end of the lawsuit.
At the time of writing, Fanatics is set to take over from Panini and become the exclusive producer of WWE trading cards. Fanatics already have an extensive partnership with WWE spanning e-commerce, licensed merchandise, and NFTs. They’re most notable for being responsible for the revamp of WWE Shop that debuted last year.
The court documents, courtesy of X user Paul Lesko, state the following:
“Pursuant to the Court’s Order, the parties certify that they have conferred live and in real time to discuss a potential resolution. Specifically, on October 3, 2023 Nick Khan (CEO, WWE), Mark Warsop (CEO, Panini America) and Elisabetta Mussini (Group Licensing Director, Panini S.p.A.) conferred by Zoom for approximately 30 minutes and on November 14 the same parties plus their counsel conferred by Zoom for approximately 30 minutes.
In addition, the parties exchanged settlement proposals and counterproposals on October 3, 2023, October 17, 2023, November 8, 2023, November 9, 2023, and November 13, 2023. Counsel for the parties were speaking regularly by phone throughout this period in connection with these proposals.
The discussions between the parties and their counsel have resulted in an agreement in principle. The parties are in the process of memorializing that agreement in a signed writing.”