Panini Grows NIL Portfolio with One Texas Fund Deal

The multi-year, exclusive deal allows Panini to create trading cards for college athletes, starting with football and volleyball players.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) and running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) celebrate a touchdown by Manning during the game against UTSA at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Panini America is getting deep into the college space.

The Dallas-based card manufacturer recently announced an NIL deal with the Texas One Fund, the NIL collective for the University of Texas.

The multi-year, exclusive deal allows Panini to create trading cards for college athletes, starting with football and volleyball players. 

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is featured in the first release of the cards. 

Although Ewers was pulled from Saturday’s game with an injury, budding star Arch Manning replaced him.

While Manning is not in this first release of cards, Panini has created cards of his in the past, and fans should expect to see more of his cards soon. 

This is more than hype, @ArchManning is the real thing. #PaniniNIL #WhoDoYouCollect pic.twitter.com/lJYEWWn7sB

— Panini America (@PaniniAmerica) September 15, 2024

“As a former student-athlete at the University of Texas, I’m thrilled to bring together two storied sports entities to empower student-athletes — past, present, and future — at Texas and beyond,” said Chris Ogbonnaya, Vice President, NIL Relations for Panini America and former Longhorn and NFL running back, in a release. “The NIL space is ever-changing and evolving but is still in its early stages, and Panini is primed to help student-athletes everywhere seize this opportunity. Our new Panini College platform is an important example of that and will serve as a hub for student-athletes to engage with NIL opportunities at their respective school.”

Panini has entered the collegiate market with a splash. With athletes able to make money off of NIL deals, Panini is staying ahead of an emerging market. 

The company’s license to make NFL trading cards expires in 2026. While that’s still two years away, the countdown is ticking. 

These collegiate cards allow Panini to create cards of star football players and expand into sports that haven’t received much mainstream attention on cards, such as volleyball. 

The cards are affordable and accessible and sell for 5.99 each. 

Panini also has deals set up with players from Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska. It plans to add more schools in the coming months.