Inside ONIT’s Collegiate Card Strategy

The recent sports card boom has produced plenty of fascinating companies, giving collectors more ways than ever to get closer to their favorite athletes. For some, that means new opportunities to follow stars like new Philadelphia 76er LeBron James , or rookie quarterbacks like Fernando Mendoza. For others, it’s a chance to get their hands on a University of Nebraska volleyball player or an Indiana University offensive lineman.

Launched during the 2022-23 academic year, with team-specific card sets launched a year later, ONIT highlights college athletes like never before, providing access to more sports and more players than its heavyweight counterparts in Panini and Topps. But it’s not all about the opportunity to buy cardboard of a defensive tackle that’ll never make it to the NFL. In the recent 2026 MLB Draft, more than a dozen first rounders already had a rookie card long before Bowman could fire up their printers—all thanks to ONIT.

On the heels of their recent purchase by Reddit co-Founder Alexis Ohanian , Mantel spoke with ONIT’s Head of Product, Cory Hollingsworth, to talk about their historic MLB Draft night, how his experience at Panini has shaped his work for the startup card company, and more.

For the first time ever, more than a dozen MLB first rounders had an ONIT card before a Bowman. What does that mean for both ONIT and collectors?

I think for ONIT, it shows that we have a great team that can understand how best to showcase our licensed partners in a way that also resonates with the broader market. We’ve seen the last two seasons that our collegiate partners have a lot of talented athletes who are important not just to their local fan base, but have mass appeal as draft prospects who will be talked about throughout the year. For collectors, that means it’s worth taking a look at, say a Louisville baseball ONIT release, because you can pull an autograph or specialty card of Zion Rose, who ended up being the 6th overall pick.

With the 2026 MLB Draft officially over, what sort of changes in demand have you seen for the 13 first rounders that already had ONIT cards?

A few players, such as Zion Rose and Logan Hughes, have seen some spikes since they shot up draft boards. We’ve also seen a lot of collectors come and order those products from us, hoping to chase autos and inserts of their new top draft picks.

What have you and the brand learned over the past week, and how will you take those learnings forward?

I think for us, we had an opportunity to build out a really compelling season of baseball where we featured players who would be important to their local fan base but who could be important players for years to come. Thankfully with the support of our team and our partners, we were able to accomplish that while working with over 20 teams and over 400 athletes in college baseball. We’d love to continue to build on that for 2027 and potentially bring products to life for additional passionate fan bases.

So much of collecting is the artwork, the design, and the feel of the card. What did your time at Panini, ARterra Labs, and Pulse Trading Cards teach you about creating products people love?

My career in collectibles has really always been focused on understanding the why – why does a fan want a collectible of this team, player, property.  Each fan base has different preferences – that can mean a design might make more sense for an esports fan, but wouldn’t resonate with someone who only collects items from their favorite college. And the same product mix might be great for a digital platform, but wouldn’t be a fun or exciting open in the physical form. Ultimately, over the last 15 years I’ve been able to make collectibles for fans of the NBA, NFL, FIFA, Premier League, top esports teams and creators, and now top colleges and universities. Each step of the way, I’ve learned more about fan behavior and knowing that collectibles are not a one-size-fits-all approach.

As ONIT’s Head of Product, can you tell us more about your thought process when concepting sets for ONIT?

One of our approaches has always been to create product that is locally driven, yet nationally relevant. This year, for baseball in particular, we took a look at coverage of top 2027 and 2028 draft prospects, as well as incoming freshman who could make an impact. Then we reconciled based on our licensing picture – who did we already work with, who could we start to work with this year, etc – and built out the programs. When it comes to set concepts, we do our best to make sure that each case, box and pack have the right amount of variety – whether that’s player mix, design diversity, or specific deliverables.

How do you ensure that ONIT’s product stands out from the competition?

Where I think our team really shines is our design and production team. This year, we have worked extensively with our manufacturing partners to improve our print capabilities. We’ve also spent a lot of time workshopping new design concepts that help us stand among the giants in the industry. We’ve heard the feedback from collectors that quality has improved and the products are getting better. But we don’t want to stop there – our goal is to always be improving and finding new ways to make the best product we can.

What’s next for ONIT?

Football is just around the corner! With the new school year brings a brand new set of designs for our team set, including some incredible new SP inserts that will bring a lot of value to our partners. We will debut some new schools and sport releases this fall, including the debut of Gravity Football, constructed similarly to Gravity Baseball with a fully mixed and blended pack presentation. We have many more surprises in store for the 2026-27 season that we can’t wait to share!

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →