SPORTS MEMORABILIA MARKET

In 2022, sports memorabilia along with trading cards industry shall value at $33 Billion. Among sports collectors, trading cards remain the most popular collectible. Over 98% of the collectors collect them. As a result of rapid urbanization and development in developing countries, huge markets for sports trading cards in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East are emerging. China and India are among the hottest emerging markets in the sports card industry, offering lucrative opportunities for the industry to expand. The market is further driven by rapid technological advances and continual innovations to keep up with dynamic consumer preferences. The growth of global sports events, such as the NBA, MLB, and NFL, as well as the availability of internet-enabled devices combined with multiple sports channels, are all playing a positive role in driving the global sports trading card market.

By the end of 2022, the sale of limited-edition video clips of sporting moments or player cards will be the most popular in the sports collectibles industry. The value of each NFT vary & depends on the prominence of the athlete, the significance of the event, additional content included in the token, and demand. The reason behind sports NFTs selling so well is that the fans have always wanted to buy exclusive tokens tied to their teams - like an autographed jersey or baseball bat - and this is just another way to fulfil that dream. Sports trading cards are set to be integrated into video games in the months to come, making them even more popular. The most popular NFT platform for sports is Dapper Labs, which gained attention in 2019 after being named the official NFT marketplace for the National Basketball Association. In 2021, the company signed a deal with the National Football League to manufacture NFTs. Further, the New York-based Candy Digital marketplace handles NFTs for Major League Baseball. It recently received $100 million in investment from SoftBank, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and others. The sports fans have forked over thousands of dollars on sports collectibles sites such as Rareible, Mintable, Sorare, and OpenSea. Also, Coinbase is opening a marketplace for NFTs in October 2022, although it did not provide an exact unveiling date.

Sports memorabilia has been a steadily growing industry across the world.

Tom Bradys helmet, Emmitt Smiths jersey, and Mickey Mantles ball are just a few examples of high-priced sports memorabilia available in the market. Due to a variety of factors including the rising wealth of baby boomers, the arrival of millennials in the market, and the growing interest from foreign buyers, sports memorabilia prices have risen to even much higher in the past decade. Game-used items, such as basketballs and jerseys, are in high demand. The baseball trading cards held the largest market share in recent years. Lastly, the auction sites such as eBay and Auction of Champions contributed significantly in transforming the sports collectibles and memorabilia into a multibillion-dollar market. Core sports memorabilia market excluding NFT and cards was estimated at $12.2 Billion in 2021 and is growing at a rate of 15.6% from 2022 to 2032.

Impact of COVID-19 on the sports collectibles and memorabilia industry

The global pandemic has had a very positive impact on the sports collectibles and memorabilia industry. It flooded the online auctions with sports collectibles. The lockdowns reinvigorated the sports trading card industry and attracted new investors, which sent the prices skyrocketing. Trading cards on eBay grew 1.5 times in 2020, with over 4 million more cards sold than in 2019! S1occer (1,500% increase) and basketball (370%) saw the most significant growth out of all sports cards. The estimations are done based on Gross Merchandise revenue generation by eBay and share of collectibles in the same. One consideration to make is that trading cards form a big chunk of this sales and so memorabilia growth as it may appear is much from trading cards category. The top NBA cards and memorabilia included anything related to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Zion Williamson.

Influence of the blockchain technology on the sports collectible industry

A number of things made last years Copa America finals noteworthy, starting with its rushed relocation to Brazil due to COVID-19 concerns in Argentina and Colombia, to Colombia winning its first big international trophy in almost two decades. Even those who are not huge football fans had something to celebrate, as a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were issued to commemorate the event. This confirms a trend that is clear to all tech-savvy sports fans: digital assets are taking over sports collectibles and memorabilia in a big way.

Current analysis of the sports collectibles market

With record-setting prices, historic scarcity, and an NFT craze that is almost an everyday topic in sports news, the memorabilia market has steadily grown since 2019. The pandemic was largely responsible for this. U.S. digital purchases increased by $200 billion in 2020, continuing the trend of people shopping online. This trend will continue in 2022.