TOPPS Baseball Card Co. fees to players for baseball card appearance.
BLUEJAYWAY
Posts: 8,052 ✭✭✭✭✭
Am reading a book named "The New Boys of Summer". It discusses 1960's baseball and all that decade of changes:Expansion,TV rights,Union issues etc. On Page 90 of interest to me,and possibly Forum members here, was the information about TOPPS in regard to what they paid the players for the photo rights of the players to appear on the cards. Pre-1967-$125.00 or wares selected from a catalog provided by TOPPS. The book did not state what "wares" were in the catalog. Sy Berger signed the players to a 5 year contract at that rate, then would resign them for the same rate while the player was still within the current 5 year contract, well in advance of it's expiration. With Marvin Millers involvement in the union, this fee paid to the players was eventually doubled in 1968 to $250.00 along with a percentage of card sales that would go to the Players Assoc. All of theses monies resulted in an influx of $ to the Players Assoc. of $300,000.00. Big money back in 1968. Wonder what the card companies pay to the players now?
Comments
Whether or not it was a lot of $$ to players back in the day, how many would really forgo the chance to be on a card? Today, with all the manufacturers, I could see them bargaining more.