Look for more Panini cards of college athletes as the 2024-25 school year plays out.
A week after announcing its new platform to create and sell cards of football and volleyball players at Ohio State, Texas and Nebraska, Panini America has announced a new partnership aimed at expanding to other universities.
The multi-year deal with The Brandr Group means Panini gets assistance with “securing and managing school and athlete relationships and providing support for certain elements of the product development process,” according to Panini.
It was The Brandr Group that worked with Panini to secure its deals with the first three schools.
The trading card platform is operated under the Panini College brand. Single cards are currently being sold for $5.99 each, with discounts for quantity. The athletes typically share in any sales revenue.
Brandr is an NIL marketing agency with rights at more than 100 schools.
“For us to collaborate with their team to help grow our Panini College platform is a natural fit,” remarked Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relationships at Panini. “ We will work together to create and enhance opportunities that benefit athletes, schools and fans.”
Panini’s current athlete partnerships include several current collegiate athletes, including exclusive athletes Quinn Ewers, V.J. Edgecombe, Tre Johnson, Arch Manning, Dylan Raiola, Julian Sayin and Zachariah Branch along with University of Nebraska volleyball All-American Lexi Rodriguez, who was the brand’s first female NIL athlete.
Panini says its deal with Brandr will allow it to obtain rights to produce additional cards college athletes throughout the year. You can expect cards of athletes in multiple sports, much like ONIT Athlete does with its line of NIL card sets.
“We share their vision for democratizing NIL products so the largest breadth of student-athletes possible have the ability to have their own trading card through their innovative on-demand offering for the schools where Panini has robust trading card rights,” stated Wesley Haynes, CEO of The Brandr Group.
Fanatics/Topps has also been active in the NIL card market since 2022 with its Bowman U line of products and on-demand cards offered via its website. They’re currently selling cards from early season college football games featuring players from Alabama, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Arizona and Boise State, some of which are autographed.
Panini’s biggest deal with a college athlete to date was an exclusive multi-year partnership with former University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark. The agreement marked Panini’s first exclusive partnership with a female athlete that includes trading cards and autographed memorabilia.
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