Trading Cards, NFTs Could Be Coming Soon For College Athletes Thanks To Panini Partnership

A trading card company in talks to go public via SPAC is the latest to capitalize on the name, image and likeness deal that sees college athletes able to monetize themselves.

What Happened: Panini reached a deal with OneTeam Partners to create trading cards and digital assets including non-fungible tokens based on players still in college. Sports mentioned by Forbes include football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and some Olympic sports.

The partnership includes over 200 universities. Panini has deals with every LEAFIELD and Fanatics school and some of the largest independently represented NCAA schools including USC and Ohio State.

OneTeam is a joint venture between the NFLPA, MLBPA and RedBird Capital Partners.

Related Link: NCAA Athletes Can Now Make A Profit Off Their NIL: What To Know And Some Early Deals 

Why It’s Important: Panini is in talks to go public with Slam Corp SLAM, a SPAC led by former MLB All-Star Alex Rodriguez.

Panini has deals in place with the NFL, NBA, FIFA, Walt Disney Co DIS, Epic Games and Endeavor Group Holdings EDR-owned UFC.

“The trading market is booming and Panini is the leader in the category. With its existing current college licenses, there is an amazing opportunity to make co-branded college and current college athlete cards for the first time in history,” said OneTeam CEO Ahmad Nassar.

Disclosure: The author is long SLAM shares.

Photo: Mick Haupt on Unsplash