A Belgian company that has been making playing cards since 1765 wants Dallas taxpayers to help bankroll its next expansion. Cartamundi is seeking city incentives to grow its southern Dallas factory, where it prints Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and other trading cards, and the Dallas City Council is set to consider up to $11 million in incentives for the project on Nov. 10.
The company's Mountain Creek manufacturing facility sits at 5101 Highland Place Drive, in southern Dallas, according to The Dallas Morning News. Dallas has served as Cartamundi's U.S. headquarters since 2009, and Cartamundi USA makes trading cards and board games at the site for major clients including Wizards of the Coast, the brand behind Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, as well as Pokémon and Asmodee, maker of Catan.
The proposed incentive would flow through a New Markets Tax Credit issued by the Dallas Development Fund, a nonprofit affiliated with the City of Dallas Office of Economic Development, per the city's economic development office. The fund is authorized to issue federal income tax credits worth up to 39% of a qualifying project's investment, and those credits apply specifically to projects located in economically disadvantaged census tracts.
What the Expansion Would Bring
Per the Dallas Morning News report, the expansion would support 120 existing jobs and add 130 full-time equivalent positions, with new roles carrying an average wage of nearly $30 an hour. The project includes new production equipment meant to improve efficiency along with building upgrades at the facility.
A city memorandum cited in the report says Cartamundi chose to invest and grow its workforce in Dallas despite higher operating costs elsewhere. The same memorandum states that the project requires substantial upfront investment in specialized printing and finishing equipment that carries long useful lives and long-term payback periods — the kind of capital outlay that can make conventional financing difficult to secure.
Without New Markets Tax Credit financing, the memorandum says, Cartamundi would scale back the project or phase it over a longer period, delaying job creation and limiting the expansion's economic impact on the surrounding community.
How the Tax Credit Program Works
The Dallas Development Fund board approved Cartamundi's $11 million allotment on Aug. 10, and the fund currently has $55 million available for its current allotment cycle, according to the Dallas Morning News account. City materials describe how the broader program functions: funding from New Markets Tax Credits can subsidize between 15% and 20% of a project's capital needs, typically in the form of low-interest, forgivable debt, according to a city memo on the program's call for projects.
The U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund notified the Dallas Development Fund on Dec. 23, 2025, that it had received a fresh $55 million allocation. Including that award, the fund has now received six New Markets Tax Credit allocations totaling $295 million, and the same memo notes the fund prioritizes projects that provide needed community services, sit in southern Dallas, or create jobs.
This isn't the fund's first time backing a manufacturer. Back in June 2016, the Dallas Development Fund provided an $8 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation to Pioneer Frozen Foods to support a new food manufacturing facility, according to records from the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition.
A Booming Trading Card Market
The push for Dallas incentives comes as Cartamundi's trading card business is surging globally. The company's chief executive has said collectible trading cards now account for 45% of total company revenue and are experiencing double-digit growth, according to a company announcement carried by Belga News Agency. Cartamundi expects overall revenue to reach €800 million this year and plans to recruit around 1,000 employees worldwide in 2026, including 150 in Belgium, pushing total headcount above 4,000 by year's end.
To keep pace, the company says it will invest €200 million over 2026 and 2027 to expand and modernize production facilities across its global network — a buildout that includes the Dallas plant's bid for local tax support. The Dallas Morning News report on the council proposal was written by business reporter Sasha Richie, a 2023 Duke University graduate with a degree in Russian alongside certificates in policy, journalism and media studies.
