Panini dives deeper into NIL with Senior Bowl title sponsorship

NIL and the collectables industry have gone hand-in-hand over the past four years and now a major player is diving deeper into the space through a title sponsorship with the the preeminent college football all-star game.

Sports and entertainment collectibles company Panini America has expanded their relationship with the Senior Bowl to now become the game's title sponsor and exclusive trading card, collectibles and memorabilia partner. A force in the NIL game, Panini has partnerships with college football stars such as Arch Manning of Texas, Dylan Raiola of Nebraska, Zachariah Branch of Georgia, among others.

Panini made a major push into the NIL space with the launch of their Panini College - a platform that allows all athletes at a partner university to have their own trading card - that included football and volleyball athletes at Ohio State, Nebraska and Texas, with more to come.

Among the now-NFL rookies who participated in the 2025 Senior Bowl are Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, Dillon Gabriel, Riley Leonard, Ollie Gordon II and game MVP Jack Bech.

“The Senior Bowl plays such a significant and special role with college athletes as they prepare to take their next step in their football careers,” said Jason Howarth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Athlete Relations at Panini America. “Just as NIL has reshaped the collegiate landscape – we are excited to jump into this new role as Title sponsor of the Panini Senior Bowl and work closely with the Senior Bowl team and the Mobile community to help grow this game to another level.”