Current In The Game Licensing Situation

Update: October 5th, 2005

Dear Collectors;

I am corporately and personally sad to inform all of our loyal collectors that we will not be allowed to produce NHL/NHLPA licensed trading cards for the 2005-06 season.

As you are aware our NHLPA license was terminated June 30th, 2004. We retained our NHL license for the 2004-05 lock-out season shortly after the new CBA was signed, we were informed that our NHL license was not going to be renewed.

We have contacted both of these organizations in an attempt to be licensed for this season but both have denied our requests. Although no one has formally made any announcements, it seems as if Upper Deck has an exclusive.

We did contact Upper Deck to see if they were interested in sub-licensing In The Game for three releases for the 2005-06 in order to bring some competition into the marketplace, but they were not interested.

Where does that leave In The Game? Well, we won’t give up. We will be as innovative as we have in the past and will continue to produce products that we hope our loyal collector base will support. Perhaps we will be able to re-apply to the NHL and the NHLPA for the 2006-07 season.

We are excited about the 2005-06 Heroes and Prospects product and will continue to explore alternative releases.

Since the cancellation of our NHLPA license in June 2004 and our NHL license in June 2005, we have contacted both organizations to inform them of the obligations we have to collectors for the Draft Redemption Programs for the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Drafts.

In The Game is ready, willing and able to complete these redemptions for our collectors. All we need is the approval of the NHL and the NHLPA.

We felt that this approval should be given since all three Draft Redemption Programs were approved by both of them. When the programs were approved, it was obvious that they would extend over a number of years.

With the start of the 2005-06 season, many of the players will play their first NHL game and will qualify to be redeemed. We hope to have an answer from the NHL and NHLPA as soon as possible.

We want to make these cards for you and as always fulfill the commitments we make to our loyal collectors.

Dr. Brian H. Price
President
In The Game, Inc.

Original Letter

Dear Collectors, Dealers and Distributors;

There seems to be a tremendous amount of speculation taking place with respect to the future of In The Game after the resolution of the labor problems between the NHL and the NHLPA.

First, let me congratulate the two organizations for settling their difference and allowing the resumption of the greatest game on earth. As a hockey fan, I can't wait for the opening game.

In The Game's NHLPA license was terminated as of June 30, 2004. From that date on we were unable to produce product bearing the images of NHLPA players. In addition, the Be A Player trademark license was cancelled as well.

Ted Saskin and the NHLPA were instrumental in the creation of In The Game in 1998 when they asked me to produce the Be A Player brand for them. After the Pinnacle disaster with their 1997-98 product, we feel that In The Game made the Be A Player brand into the best hockey card product in the marketplace. We are extremely proud of our accomplishments with the Be A Player brand.

When the NHLPA cancelled our license, we asked the NHL for a license to produce hockey trading cards featuring retired players. We were granted a one-year license. This license ended June 30, 2005. We thank the NHL for this opportunity and were pleased to create and distribute our NHL Franchises product along with the 5th Edition of the Ultimate Memorabilia.

Along with a great number of other companies and individuals, we struggled during the lockout. It was a difficult decision for us to make to remain in business as we knew our revenues would diminish significantly but our overhead could not follow in proportion.

We felt we had a commitment to the hockey trading card industry. We did not want to close our doors as Pacific did. We did not want to take a sabbatical as Topps has done. We had dedicated collectors, dealers and distributors who needed our support. This made a difficult financial decision easy for me.

We continued to attend trading card shows including two Expos, The Big One, Sportsfest and The National. We continued to advertise in Beckett Hockey and Canadian Sportscard Collector and we continued to do Customer Service so that when the lockout was over, we would be in position to continue the business we love so much.

That brings us to the present. We have requested licenses from both the NHL and the NHLPA. To date, we have been told that under the new CBA that all licensing has to be agreed to by both parties. We have also been told that although trading card licensing is an important issue, the parties have yet to be able to finalize the matter as there have been more important issues to deal with over the last month. We respect that and continue to stand ready, willing and certainly able should the parties make a positive decision on our license.

I hope to have more positive information available for our supporters in the very near future but I wanted to bring everyone up to date at this time.

If you would like to give us your opinion on how you feel about the licensing situation for the 2005-06 season, send me an email at info@itgtradingcards.com. Please put "In The Game License" in the subject line so that your email will come directly to me.

Also enclosed below, please find some opinions from individuals well known in the hockey trading card industry.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brian H. Price
President
In The Game, Inc.

What Our Fans Had To Say

"I have always believed that ITG helped elevate the hockey card industry and they should be licensed to keep some healthy competition in the marketplace."
"ITG has always done a great job of preserving the history of the game."

Russ Cohen
Director of Communications
www.sportsology.net

In my opinion, if any one company deserves a license to produce an NHL trading card set, it has to be In The Game. For the past seven years In The Game has provided customers with some of the nicest cards to ever hit the market. Their devotion to not only the current players of the NHL, but also the NHL's rich history shows how devoted ITG is to promoting the NHL and all their players. ITG also makes every effort to reach out to hockey card fans by attending as many Expos and national card shows as possible. By providing unique redemption programs and creating special products for these shows, ITG brings more collectors to a hobby that normally hasn't received as much respect as the other major sports.

Despite In the Game's inability to produce NHLPA licensed cards in 2004-05, they were still able to produce some of the nicest products the NHL trading card community had ever seen. ITG Ultimate and Franchises were even more popular at times than sets featuring NHLPA players.

What are the drawbacks of one company holding the only NHL/NHLPA license?

What is McDonald's without Burger King or Wendy's? What's Coke without Pepsi? Or Microsoft without Apple?

Competition brings out the best in every corporation. As in any type of business, the biggest winner of competition is the consumer. A monopoly merely deprives the consumer of choices. No one wins in a monopoly. Look at the current progression of the hockey card industry. Without the competition that existed the past few years, the hockey card market would not be at its all time high in popularity that it is at right now. With competition, each company continues to strive to outdo one another. Collectors have benefited with more choices, autographs, game used cards and promotions than they ever experienced before.

Another critical drawback of a hockey card monopoly is that a company also has the ability to influence prices. Without choice, collectors have no place else to go for their hockey card fix. That forces consumers to pay whatever price that company decides to place on each of their products. Also, by allowing only a single company to produce cards, you risk losing collectors who either don't like dealing with that company or collectors that just want more variety with their cards. Ultimately, you give that single company the opportunity to become lazy with their products along with their customer service. From that company's point of view, a collector has no where else to turn for trading cards so the customers no longer become a high priority.

If the NHL and NHLPA are looking to limit the products that are put into the market place, then the emphasis should be put on the number of products put out by each company in a year rather than limiting the number of companies who can actually produce cards.

Thanks,
Chris Barr
Las Vegas, NV

I'm writing to ask if In the Game is going to be producing NHL/NHLPA licensed cards in the upcoming NHL season. At present, only Upper Deck holds a valid license and there are rumours afoot that there may be no others.

I've been collecting seriously now for the last ten years. I've largely focused my collection on Joe Sakic, but a few other players have been known to sneak into my collection from time to time. Most often, they're cards printed by In the Game. Since In the Game has entered the market, the results have been spectacular starting with the rejuvenation of the Be A Player brand - a dazzling and near- encyclopedic array of NHL player autographs, partnered with an equally impressive array of game used materials from the elite of the NHL.

Since then, ITG has consistently led the way in delivering top quality autographed and game used memorabilia to the collector. Though the NHL and NHLPA does not want fighting featured on collector cards, ITG was the first to produce memorabilia sets of the grittier side of the NHL and did so without compromising the licensor's wishes. Another company first introduced the "game used per pack" concept. ITG perfected it with the ITGU and Ultimate brands - and ultimate remains the benchmark for super-premium brands, copycats notwithstanding.

Quality memorabilia of legendary players like Vezina, Orr, Richard, or Hull was seldom seen before ITG's foray into the market. That demand was recognized, and the mythology came home to collectors. In fact, the product release of 03-04 In the Game Used delivered more Orr memorabilia alone than in every previous product combined. By purchasing products from In The Game Inc, it is now a relatively easy thing for fans of vintage-era players to acquire a good memorabilia piece of Bill Barilko, Ace Bailey, Cyclone Taylor, Howie Morenz, Aurel Joliat, and a host of others too numerous to name. And not to be inconvenienced by a mere trifle like death, cut autographs of numerous legends have also found their way into ITG products - including Lord Stanley himself and the Lady Byng.

Then of course, there's the small matter of value adding. At every major sports show in North America where there might be a sniff of hockey, ITG is there with its redemption programs to deliver yet more quality goods to collectors. When forced to deter pack-searchers, rather than simply adding cardboard spacers as decoys, ITG introduced the now standard He Shoots He Scores programs - yet another opportunity for collectors to cash in on outstanding products.

Which brings us to a very telling matter: Customer Service. There is not a company in the hockey hobby that has ever brought the same level of commitment to customer service as does In the Game. With no other company can one expect a meaningful reply to email inquiries in less than 24 hours. With no other company does one expect the sort of timely and satisfying resolution to a problem that is standard from ITG. No other company's owner is a presence - almost a fixture - at major sports shows, if for no other reason than to listen and respond to collector concerns.

ITG focuses on hockey and hockey alone. I believe ITG shares the hockey collector's passion for the sport. It certainly shows in what they do. ITG SHOULD be licensed for the coming years - no other company has done so much to connect collectors with the past, present and future of hockey, and I doubt any company ever will. They are the gold standard.

Thanks,
Steve Angel

While In the Game is without a NHLPA license, the hockey collectibles marketplace is missing one of the key elements that made it the powerful entity it is today. For years I have used their products as a journalist and as a collector to be my guide to the world of hockey. Even when put into a position of crisis with the recent work stoppage, In the Game thrived, putting out arguably the best hockey products of the year. Many other companies would've called it a day, but not them.

Their redemption programs at collectible shows and the NHL FANtasy events consistently energized collectors and brought more into the hobby. They deliver unparalleled customer service, and it has paid off for them as they have built a dedicated fan base like no other company in this industry. They have constantly delivered the best selection of all-time hockey greats in their sets mixed with rookies and veterans to give collectors the perfect hockey history lesson in every product. It is within their products that I pulled the true relics of the game. Nowhere else could I find Rocket Richard vintage glove pieces or dual memorabilia cards featuring the great Esposito brothers. Having a piece of game-used gear from Terry Sawchuk or Stan Mikita or an autograph of the one and only Bill Barilko come out of a reasonably priced pack is one of the true thrills of hockey card collecting. I believe this year will be a groundbreaking year for the NHL, the NHLPA And its entities with the arrival of one Sidney Crosby. One of the cards collectors have already spoken about is a combination autographed card featuring Crosby and Mario Lemieux. In the Game has an exclusive autograph deal with Mario, but no license. Because of this, one of the "must have" cards of 2005-06 might never see the light of day.

Doug Cataldo
Card Corner Club/Sportsology