BACKPATHWAY SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT AND PANINI AMERICA ENTER INTO MULTI-YEAR COLLEGIATE NIL AGREEMENT
Irving, TX – June 11, 2026 – Pathway Sports & Entertainment, the national leader in commercializing college athlete marketing rights, and Panini America, one of the world’s leading producers and distributors of trading cards, stickers, digital collectibles and publications, have announced a multi-year agreement to create, promote, and sell college athlete trading cards across America in partnership with athletes through Pathway’s royalty program. The partnership kicked off with hundreds of athletes securing deals from the University of Notre Dame, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and Texas Tech University – with more schools to come.
The partnership includes commercially available trading cards of current athletes from a variety of sports including football, men’s and women’s basketball, softball, volleyball, and Olympic sports. Hundreds of top male and female athletes, as well as a small group of alumni, will be compensated to provide autographs which will be included in these card sets. The agreement also includes a non-exclusive player licensing royalty program, allowing participants to share in the upside of product sales, similar to programs at the professional levels.
“Pathway was founded on the premise that the market for collegiate athletes is fragmented, untapped and unlimited ,” said Pathway Founding Partner and President Casey Schwab. “Panini is a world-class company that shares our values and goals and our demand for high quality opportunities on behalf of college athletes. This partnership will greatly benefit the featured athletes who Pathway is proud to work with and we look forward to announcing additional schools in the near future.”
The trading cards will be sold as individual units – on Panini’s Panini Instant and NIL platforms, as part of school specific products and multi-school products as well as team-centered packs through major retail outlets as well as through e-commerce outlets. It is expected that the cards will come on sale by late fall.
“We are thrilled to enter into this unique partnership with Pathway Sports & Entertainment, a leader in driving value for college athletes,” said Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Athlete Relations. “The college athletics space is a significant market for athletes and for fans and Panini is proud to once again be at the forefront of 21st century business. We will use our world class product development, sales, marketing and distribution channels to promote the cards and the signings across North America and look forward to adding more athletes to our portfolio.”
About Pathway Sports & Entertainment
Founded in 2025 and led by executives with deep expertise across college athletics, players associations, and professional sports, Pathway Sports & Entertainment is a collegiate athlete rights, licensing, and commercialization company dedicated to maximizing long-term value for athletes through transparent, athlete-first partnerships. Pathway develops and manages innovative commercial programs that unlock new revenue opportunities while ensuring athletes participate meaningfully in the value generated by their collective rights, connecting athletes, brands, institutions, and commercial partners through scalable licensing, media, sponsorship, and experiential platforms.
About Panini America
Panini America is a subsidiary of The Panini Group, established over 60 years ago in Modena, Italy with subsidiaries throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States. Panini is the world leader in officially licensed collectibles and is the most significant publisher of collectibles in the U.S., with official licenses for FIFA, WNBA, WNBAPA, NASCAR, the NWSL and NWSLPA, Unrivaled, LIV Golf, the Professional Fighters League, College, Disney, and other key properties from many other licensors. Panini is also the exclusive trading card and sticker partner of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Elite 11 and Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc.
Panini has distribution channels in more than 150 countries and employs a staff of over 1,800. For more information visit us at www.paniniamerica.net, www.paninigroup.com or
http://blog.paniniamerica.net/. You can also follow Panini America on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram
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