Panini Adrenalyn

PANINI AMERICA LAUNCHES ADRENALYN, A NEW NBA-THEMED INTERACTIVE TRADING CARD GAME TO TIP OFF NBA ALL-STAR 2010

Panini to Distribute Four Million Adrenalyn Packs and 2.5 Million Game Boards to Kids through the Remainder of the NBA Season

ARLINGTON, Texas (Feb. 11, 2010) – Panini America (www.paniniamerica.net), a subsidiary of The Panini Group, the leading global publisher of sports and entertainment collectables, will launch a new NBA-themed interactive trading card game – Adrenalyn – with an event at the Bailey Junior High School in Arlington, Texas. Dallas Mavericks Guards J.J. Barea and Rodrigue Beaubois will participate in the event along with multi-platinum singer Brian McKnight as part of NBA All-Star 2010.

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 and NBA rookies Tyreke Evans, Blake Griffin, and Brandon Jennings, 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, and The Dollar Store, and online at NBAStore.com and at the NBA Store in New York City.

“I’m really excited about Panini and Adrenalyn.  We both share a vision about how we can bring energy back into the trading card category, and Panini has a great strategy to do that.” said Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers guard.

During NBA All-Star 2010 in North Texas, Panini will distribute one million packs of Adrenalyn cards at various NBA events, including NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas, the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam, and various NBA Cares events throughout the week, as well as to the record crowd on hand at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. The day of the All-Star Game, Sunday, Feb. 14, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram will distribute more than 250,000 packs of Adrenalyn cards.

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.

“We believe the best way to introduce this exciting new product to kids is to get it in their hands. No one in the card industry has ever supported a new product to this level with this amount of sampling,” said Mark Warsop, Chief Executive Officer of Panini America. “The Adrenalyn game is a fun, engaging game that we believe kids will enjoy because it brings the collecting experience online.”

The Adrenalyn Tour will begin in North Texas during NBA All-Star 2010 and visit 13-NBA markets, culminating with a series of events in Los Angeles at the end of the NBA regular season.  The Tour, anchored with a rock star-style Tour Bus, includes an NBA regulation-size half-court for kids to participate in basketball clinics with NBA players and basketball-related skills contests to help promote participation in the sport. There is also an interactive gaming area and trading card area where kids can learn how to play the game. To learn more about the tour and event stops, watch videos, and view photos from each tour stop, visit www.paniniadrenalyn.com.

Adrenalyn Tour Dates:

February 11-14	NBA All-Star 2010, North Texas
February 16-20	Houston, TX
February 22-24	Dallas, TX
February 26-March 1	Atlanta, GA
March 3-5	Miami, FL
March 7-9	New York, NY
March 11-12	Boston, MA
March 13-14	Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA
March 15-16	Secaucus, NJ
March 19-21	Indianapolis, IN
March 22-25	Milwaukee, WI
March 26-29	Minneapolis, MN
April 1-3	Sacramento, CA
April 9-18	Los Angeles, CA

My take: This seems like a fun game for the intended age group, but I don’t think that many people outside of that age group will play it.  I’ve tried out the online version a couple of times and I see glaring problem and that is that it doesn’t have any type of limits.  Once you get the 5 best cards in the game, you aren’t going to be beat.

That being said, these are my favorite cards that I’ve seen from Panini yet.  They look nicer than the flagship set and aren’t as busy as a lot of the high end sets.  As a parent, anything that combines sports and learning is something that I’ll give a try.  My daughter is a little young for comparing numbers up to 100, but she’d love to have her own cards of KG, Big Baby and Paul Pierce since she sees them on TV all of the time.  I’ll be taking her to the tour date to check out the game and see if she likes it.