Washington's Rome Odunze signs exclusive NIL deal with Panini America

Rome Odunze had a breakout year for Washington last year and is showing no signs of slowing down this season. He’s once again a top target for Michael Penix Jr., ranking second in the nation in receiving yards.

After a big performance last week, Odunze is capitalizing with an exclusive NIL deal with Panini America. Under the agreement, he’ll appear in Panini’s college and NFL products this fall, as well as select Panini marketing activations.

Odunze already has cards on Panini’s platform and received another one commemorating his big game against Michigan State last week. He had eight receptions for 180 yards to help the Huskies past the Spartans in a 41-7 blowout. The card is available until Sept. 28 on Panini’s website.

“We were excited to work with Rome over the summer and even more excited for Rome to step on the field this season,” Panini senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations Jason Howarth said in a statement. “Rome has all the things we look for in a Panini exclusive athlete and we are excited to see what he does the rest of the season. We know fans will be excited to see him in our Panini products.”

Panini previously announced an exclusive partnership with Penix earlier this month after his monster performance against Boise State. In that game, he found Oduzne for 132 yards and a touchdown en route to the 56-19 blowout.

Now, they’re both partners with Panini, which is emerging as one of the top players in the NIL space. USC receiver Zachariah Branch and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers also have partnerships with the company.

Rome Odunze hasn’t missed a beat since his breakout year, and it’s leading to NIL success

Rome Odunze put together his first 1,000-yard season a year ago, leading Washington with 1,145 yards. He hasn’t missed a beat this year with 419 receiving yards through three games to rank second in the nation, only behind Miami (Ohio)’s Gage Larvadain.

Odunze has more than 100 yards in all three of Washington’s victories to open the season, including 132 yards in the season opener against Boise State.

Off the field, Odunze has seen a few NIL opportunities come his way. He also has deals with Montlake Futures and Montlake Players. He has also seen his On3 NIL Valuation soar as the season goes along, jumping up to $795,000, second on the UW roster only to Penix.

Odunze not only ranks in the top 50 of the On3 NIL 100 — the the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation — but also puts him at No. 28 in the On3 College Football NIL Rank.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career. The On3 NIL Valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out to as long as 12 months into the future.