Penske Entertainment’s decision to partner with Parkside Collectibles for a range of NTT IndyCar Series trading cards has proven to be a popular choice that shows no signs of stopping.
Moving beyond familiar merchandise like driver jerseys and diecast cars, the move into trading cards was produced meaningful results for the American open-wheel championship.
“The collaboration with Parkside was absolutely our top performing new item during the 2024 season,” Penske Entertainment VP of communications Alex Damron told RACER. “It was obviously exciting to see fans demonstrating interest in the availability of an IndyCar Trading Card Collection line. But what’s really most exciting is that it’s a program that will drive fandom moving forward, and that’s because collecting is an interactive hobby that makes lifelong fans.”
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Thanks to Chip Ganassi Racing’s reintroduction of IndyCar trading cards in 2023, which were done as charitable items to stoke donations for the American Legion, and reignited fan interested in a long-forgotten area of series-related memorabilia, Penske aligned Parkside and were treated to an overwhelming response by IndyCar’s audience.
Other racing series, led by Formula 1 and NASCAR, have enjoyed longer runs of success with official trading cards, and in some cases, the most coveted cards can command more than $50,000 apiece. The good news for fans of the new IndyCar line is it will continue into a second season.
“We’ve already seen a tremendous amount of grassroots energy behind the Parkside line,” Damron said. “We’ve even seen drivers like Jack Harvey and Conor Daly organize special events to meet fans who started collecting the cards and interact with them and take part in the program itself. And that’s been just a really positive development that showcases what type of community we’re building here at IndyCar.
“The program was particularly successful in delivering some creative and customized product across the 2024 season, and that will certainly continue and build in 2025. We expect there will be more signature cards and more relic cards in the 2025 collection. Just given how well the program did in 2024 the signature card piece is probably pretty obvious.
“But a relic card that features, for example, cut up pieces of a driver’s gear or something else from a race weekend, is really interesting to a collector because those are limited runs, maybe just 10, or maybe 100. So there will be greater customizations and enhancements for fans in 2025, which we’re really excited about and think add to the energy behind the program.”