Posted on 11/15/123 by Colin Vassallo
A document filed yesterday in the court of Southern District
of New York, WWE and Panini announced that they have come to
a settlement agreement in principle over the lawsuit filed
by Panini in September.
In the lawsuit, Panini said that “with no warning
whatsoever, on August 28, 2023, Panini received a letter
dated August 25, 2023, from WWE, purporting to terminate the
Agreement for a purported breach of the terms of the
Agreement.” The company was seeking a declamatory judgment
that WWE’s termination was invalid and improper.
“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,” the letter says.
“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,”
it continues.
Both parties are now in process of memorializing that
agreement in a signed writing.
WWE said that the trading card company had breached their
contract and wanted Fanatics to get the trading card rights
immediately. WWE and Fanatics had already signed a deal
where they were going to get the licensing in 2026.