Tennessee's Joe Milton inks exclusive, multi-year NIL deal with Panini America

Joe Milton is the latest college football star to sign an NIL deal with Panini America.

The Tennessee quarterback inked an exclusive, multi-year endorsement deal with the trading card company, coming off last weekend’s win over South Carolina. As part of the agreement, he will be featured in Panini’s collegiate and NIL products along with select marketing activations this fall.

To kick off the partnership, Panini is releasing an Instant Card commemorating his performance in the 41-20 victory over the Gamecocks. The card will be available on Panini’s website starting at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.

“Joe is a great player and an outstanding addition to our talented athlete roster,” Panini America senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations Jason Howarth said in a statement. “We are excited to be working with him and offering his autograph trading cards and memorabilia to fans.”

The instant Cards are priced at $9.99, $74.99 and $399.99. The prices represent the different levels of cards available for fans to purchase. According to the company, Instant Cards allow fans to collect the season’s most memorable moments throughout the 2023 season as a set and special subsets that cover everything from the NFL draft through the national championship and Super Bowl.

Panini has emerged as one of the top names in the NIL space. USC receiver Zachariah Branch, Washington’s Rome Odunze and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers all have exclusive deals with the company. 2024 Five-Star Plus+ shooting guard Tre Johnson has an agreement, plus six top NBA prospects signed with Panini in July.

Joe Milton continues success on field, in NIL

Joe Milton, a fifth-year player has made the most of his 2023 season as QB1 for the Volunteers. The Vols are off to a 4-1 start, with their only loss coming at Florida. He’s thrown for 1,164 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Tennessee has a bye this week before it hosts Texas A&M.

The former Michigan transfer re-signed his NIL deal with the NIL collective The Volunteer Club in January, basically announcing he would be back in Knoxville for his final year of college eligibility. Spyre Sports, run by Hunter Baddour and James Clawson, manage The Vol Club. The NIL collective supports Tennessee student-athletes through a monthly membership program. To date, it’s distributed more than $13.5 million in NIL deals to athletes.

As part of Milton’s deal with the Vol Club, he’s made appearances at a number of events. He also inked an NIL deal with Funderburk Family McDonald’s through Spyre. As part of the deal, fans can purchase the “Milton Meal” at select McDonald’s locations.

He’s quickly become one of the most closely followed quarterbacks in the country this fall, and his NIL deals prove it. Along with this new partnership with Hometown Realty, Milton recently entered into an NIL deal with Beats by Dre. As part of the agreement, he gifted his entire team Beats Studio Pro wireless headphones, which sell at retail for $349.99. He also participated in an event in March at Dick’s House of Sport in Knoxville with Shedeur Sanders, hosted by the BRADY brand.

The success on the field and with NIL, combined with the strong Tennessee brand and a big social media following has helped. He currently has 120,000 followers.