More than 600 hobby retailers are expected to take part in this year’s NFL Player of the Day retail program, which officially begins Sept. 1 but can be offered for any 31-day period through Nov. 30.

Hobby shop registration for the program opens today and runs through July 21. Hobby shops can visit www.nflpod.com to get more information or to register for the promotion.

This marks the ninth season for the promotion, which is a joint venture between Players Inc and NFL Properties. This year, the promotion is again being supported by trading card licensees Donruss, Topps and Upper Deck as well as The Licensed Product Company, McFarlane, Riddell, WinCraft, Reebok, Fathead, Pro Specialties Group and Team Beans/Forever Collectibles.

Every participating hobby shop will receive a free merchandise kit that includes posters, T-shirts and prizes. Each store will also receive an autographed card to award to their grand prize store winner. During the promotion, a different player is designated as the “player of the day.” Each shop also selects one player as the “hometown hero” for the duration of the 31-day promotion. Every time a collector purchases a pack of 2008 NFL trading cards in a participating hobby shop, they can win a prize if the player of the day or hometown hero is in the pack. Stores will also conduct a drawing among the daily winners to award a weekly prize. At the end of the month-long promotion, each store will award the autographed card to their store winner who will then be entered into the national sweepstakes.

All participating retailers will be entered into the national sweepstakes to win more than 100 prizes including the grand prize, the chance to “Spend a Day with an NFL Player.” The grand prize also includes a $250 shopping spree, a 60-minute autograph appearance at the winner’s favorite hobby shops and a visit by the player to the winner’s home for a private party.

In addition to the prizes contributed by the licensees, each store will also receive four NFL Player of the Day exclusive card packs featuring one special card from each licensee. The featured players include Darren McFadden (Donruss), Tom Brady (UD) and Adrian Peterson (Topps). An individually numbered version (to 250) of each card will also be randomly inserted into packs.

Registration information is available at www.nflpod.com or by contacting (631) 462-2546 or staff@drotmanpr.com.