USC's Zachariah Branch signs multi-year NIL deal with Panini America

Zachariah Branch is capitalizing on his Week Zero breakout performance.

The USC freshman receiver and former Five-Star Plus+ recruit inked a multi-year NIL deal with Panini America. As part of the agreement, he will be featured in Panini’s collegiate and NIL products along with select marketing activations this fall.

To begin the partnership, Panini released an Instant Card commemorating his collegiate debut.  The card will be available on Panini’s website starting Wednesday through Monday, Sept. 4. Branch had 232 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in last Saturday’s win over San Jose State, including a 96-yard kickoff return that has already earned him comparisons to Reggie Bush.

Instant Cards priced at $199 and $49 have already sold out but collectors can purchase the base card for $9.99. Branch is repped by Excel Sports Management.

“Zachariah is an incredible talent and another excellent addition to our growing roster of young athletes at Panini, and we enjoyed getting to work with him over the summer,” Panini’s senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations Jason Howarth said in a statement. “We can’t wait to see him create memorable moments for football fans across the country.”

Panini also released a dual Instant Card featuring Branch and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. According to the company, the 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 quickly become a notable name in the NIL space. Along with its partnership with Arch Manning, the trading card company has deals with Quinn Ewers and 2024 Five-Star Plus+ shooting guard Tre Johnson. Six top NBA prospects signed with Panini late last week, too.

Zachariah Branch’s On3 NIL Valuation

The top-ranked receiver in the 2023 recruiting class saw a $14.9K jump in his On3 NIL Valuation following his breakout performance against San Jose State. He now holds a $673,000 On3 NIL Valuation and is closing in on 200K social media followers.

Branch’s valuation is No. 60 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation. The valuation also ranks No. 45 in college football.

Branch will be a key weapon for Williams this season. USC hosts Nevada on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff on the Pac-12 Network.

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.