Cards
Under new owner, ONIT card company using NIL to create new market for college sports cards
Name, image, likeness (NIL) has forever changed the landscape of collegiate athletics.
Now, ONIT is looking to change the landscape of the collegiate trading card space.
In late June, ONIT—an officially-licensed college sports trading card company—was acquired by Seven Seven Six, a venture capitalist firm owned by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, is deeply invested in the sports space; he’s also been a longtime proponent of women’s athletics. Seven Seven Six’s portfolio includes Chelsea FC Women’s (WSL) and founding control owner of Angel City FC (NWSL), Los Angeles Volleyball (LOVB), LA Golf Club (TGL & WTGL), and ATHLOS Track and Field.
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“Alexis is very passionate about spotting what’s going to be next in sports and trying to kind of build up the sports world where maybe the bigger companies are not paying as much attention to, so I think that’s part of the reason he bought ONIT,” ONIT’s new CEO Evan Parker told SCD.
“Also, the guy is a hardcore collector. He’s got a massive collection dating back to when he was a kid and he’s been collecting cards over the last few years in a big way. He’s got the world’s largest Serena Williams collection. For him, it’s a chance to be able to do something that builds sort of his sports thesis of emerging sports, sports that people aren’t paying attention to, women’s sports and also to dive deeper into an area that he’s got a considerable amount of passion for.”
Ohanian told SCD that when he was a kid, he sketched cards and comic books for fun. To be able to purchase a card company in his 40s is incredible.
“Of course, I bought ONIT because I think it is a great business that we can continue to grow, but the fact that it helps me live out a childhood dream is a pretty sweet bonus,” Ohanian said.
Having Ohanian and Seven Seven Six enter the trading card space as manufacturers and not in a different segment of the hobby says a lot about their interest in shaping the way cards could impact the future.
“I think, in part because as the world goes more and more digital and more and more AI based, there’s something special about a product that you can hold in your hand and is physical,” Parker said. “It’s something that the collecting world has appreciated for more than 100 years at this point. So, there’s an ability to create something that people are going to put on their shelves and cherish, especially for somebody like Alexis who spends all this time in tech and investing and a lot of it is zeros and ones and digital. To be able to work on something that’s physical is really interesting.”
During the 2024-25 academic year, ONIT made team-specific trading card sets for 212 teams across 67 Division I schools. The brand worked with 8,055 student-athletes, including more women’s sports student-athletes than all other trading card companies combined.
ONIT—which will enter its fifth season producing cards when the 2026-27 academic year hits—doesn’t just cater to the major sports such as football, basketball and baseball. The company produces cards for hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, volleyball, soccer and softball.
If there’s an interest in a sport on a college campus, ONIT is going to pursue it.
“The goal is to have every school that is not exclusive with anybody else,” Parker said. “If they’re able to work with us, we’re going to work with them. That’s the plan and that’s the expectation.”
BIG OPPORTUNITIES
Parker knows there are big opportunities right now in the collegiate card space. And ONIT is ready to take advantage and build a niche brand that will be synonymous with college athletics.
“That’s part of what really drew me to it when you think about how many people are watching college football on Saturday vs. how many people who are collecting college football cards,” said Parker, who also serves as CEO of Mantel, a social network and community platform built for collectors. “You think about the NFL and how big it is and how much of that translates to collectability, that hasn’t happened in college. Part of the reason why that hasn’t happened in college is the college space is fractured and complicated. Part of it is because you’ve only been able to create these cards with the athletes involved over the last few years from when the NIL rules changed. Part of it is because there just hasn’t been as much focus on that space and college-specific trading card sets.
“This is a chance to build something that just right now hasn’t existed. We can help pioneer and create a market.”
Ohanian wants to create a card company beloved by people deep in the hobby and by fans of college sports who maybe have never ripped a pack in their life.
“We want to expose more people to collecting—fans of non-revenue sports that rarely have cards, young girls looking up to the stars of the volleyball or softball team, and people who love their alma mater or local school but haven’t found the hobby to be accessible,” Ohanian said. “Everything ONIT produces is top quality, made in the U.S., and licensed and all autos are on-card. There is massive upside for this business if we can introduce the ONIT brand to the hobby and collectors who prospect or have player PCs, while also introducing an entirely new generation to collecting.”
ONIT isn’t just producing cards of the star quarterback on a football team or a starting guard on a basketball team. The football team’s long snapper and the 12th player on the bench for a basketball team also get cards.
“A lot of athletes are able to be part of this in a way that they never were able to before,” Parker said. “For some of these athletes, it will be the only card that they get in their entire careers. They’re going to be like me and you, who graduate and end up going on to some other career outside of athletics. I think it’s a lot of responsibility on our shoulders and it’s an honor to be able to create somebody’s only card that they’ll cherish, that their family will cherish, that their fans will cherish. But we also get to create cards for the biggest and the best.”
Parker stresses that ONIT strives to continue to push the boundaries with what it does with schools and athletes it works with.
When ONIT produces collegiate cards, the student-athletes benefit monetarily. If a team member has an autograph in a set, they get paid for signing and their school also receives money.
“It’s really cool to be working on something that benefits the institutions and benefits the athletes directly,” Parker said. “These athletes have not been able to monetize their name, image and likeness up until a couple years ago, and in the card space it’s still pretty small.”
Being able to produce cards of athletes early in their college career allows ONIT to get some athletes before they become household names and explode in popularity and price.
Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is one athlete who collectors wouldn’t have had much access to in terms of cards if it wasn’t for NIL. In its 2025 football product, ONIT released cards of Indiana’s star quarterback. After leading the Hoosiers to an undefeated season that culminated in winning the national championship, Mendoza became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Collectors who picked up Mendoza’s ONIT cards before he made it big are reaping the rewards.
ONIT faces plenty of competition in the collegiate trading cards space. Fanatics owns a license to produce collegiate cards and has put out some products the last few years through its Bowman and Topps brands. Two other companies, Leaf and Wild Card, also release collegiate cards. However, neither are licensed, so school logos and decals aren’t permitted in their products.
ONIT is striving to differentiate itself from its competitors. The company is achieving that by manufacturing high-quality cards that use solid cardstock, have an enhanced look featuring team logos and only using on-card autographs from the athletes.
“It’s a really satisfying experience and you’re able to pull cards of some of these athletes that are going to go on to be incredibly big, while also contributing to putting money in the athletes’ pocket and supporting the school that you love,” Parker said.
THE AUDIENCE
ONIT is producing its cards for two different audiences. There is the fan who roots for a school in general and wants any collectible or memorabilia associated with it, as well as the fan of a program who cheers for a school based on a specific sport.
The second audience is collectors who are looking for players that are going to break out. They can get their hands on an athlete’s earliest licensed card, hold onto it and hopefully that player will go onto a Hall of Fame career.
NIL has had a massive impact on college athletes, opening the door for them to get paid for having licensed cards.
“None of this was possible just five years ago,” Ohanian said. “Now these athletes can benefit from their NIL, which has enabled companies like ONIT to exist. We love the fact that royalties from our card sales go directly to student athletes and universities. We’re creating a product that truly supports collegiate athletics, and we’re making sure that every athlete on every team we work with has a chance to get their own trading card, and is able to earn money because that card exists. We take that responsibility very seriously, and I’m thankful the rules now allow these athletes to profit off their talent and hard work.”
ONIT—which is headquartered in Boise, Idaho—has customarily released its products in a team set format. However, its Gravity baseball brand became the first fully-mixed national release when it came out this past June. The product features expected No. 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky from UCLA.
ONIT’s products are making their way into some of the largest retailers in the country. Walmart, Best Buy and Meijer are carrying the company’s cards. ONIT cards are also available in many campus bookstores, alumni shops and hobby shops.
Parker is excited to expand ONIT’s reach and enter the homes of as many collectors as possible.
“Collecting is something that I’m incredibly passionate about,” Parker said. “I’ve been collecting cards since I was a kid. I never dreamt that one day I would work at a card company, because it just didn’t seem like that was even possible. To get to work at a card company and I also get to produce cards for my alma mater, Maryland, and UCLA, which I grew up loving, that’s stuff that I spend money on. I actually spent money on the UCLA product before I ever knew that I’d one day be working at ONIT.
“How many times in your career do you get a chance to go work for something that you’re already spending money on and you’re already passionate about? You’ve got to be excited about it.”
