There have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures and most of them involve Jordan, LeBron, Kobe and Curry.
We’re in the golden era of sports cards, with some being sold for millions of dollars. Though not as hot a property as some baseball cards, there’s a big market for the basketball stuff too. Per our research, there have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures.
Most of them involve Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. One featuring the Warriors superstar actually tops the list of the most expensive sales ever.
The 2003-04 Upper Deck LeBron James Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autograph is the card sold most times in our list with 12. Other players that collectors are investing in are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. The trading card industry is booming and still growing, and we’re sure there will be new record sales soon.
DJ Lagway has partnered with Leaf Trading Cards and is donating 100% of proceeds to the Florida Disaster Fund, following Hurricane Milton.
The trading card industry has boomed in recent years, and Florida Gators quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] is taking advantage of the hobby’s surge in popularity to do some good following the latest natural disaster to hit the Sunshine State.
Leaf Trading Cards “has partnered with DJ Lagway to support relief efforts, with 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this card being donated to the Florida Disaster Fund,” according to the product description on the sales page.
Fans can purchase the $10 cards until Oct. 17 using the hyperlink above.
Lagway isn’t the only collegiate athlete participating in the relief drive. Miami quarterback Cam Ward and wide receiver Samuel Brown Jr. have also released cards with the same 100% donation policy.
Lagway at Florida
DJ Lagway has only played in four games for Florida, but the true freshman has already made a name for himself in Gainesville.
The former five-star recruit made his debut in Week 2 against Samford and set a school record among freshmen with 456 passing yards and three touchdowns in that game. Lagway moved into a backup role once Graham Mertz got healthy, but Billy Napier has made it clear that the freshman will get regular playing time each week.
Through four appearances, Lagway has completed 69.1% of his passes for 667 yards and four touchdowns.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Ryan Hoge discussed the Kobe Bryant special on PSA Magazine, the best Michael Jordan trading cards, the card collector industry and more.
HoopsHype sat down with authentication and grading company PSA president Ryan Hoge to discuss the Kobe Bryant special on PSA Magazine, the best Michael Jordan trading cards, staying vigilant against fake submissions, his favorite NBA cards and more.
Five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter weighs in on the Kansas City #Chiefs quest for a three-peat | @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs are pursuing history this season, attempting to become the first team to three-peat as Super Bowl champions in NFL history.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter after his appearance at Fanatics Fest in New York City about his journey into sports memorabilia, which led to his co-creation of Arena Club with business entrepreneur Brian Lee and revealed the mindset of his New York Yankees three-peat teams.
“When you’re starting your career, when you get baseball cards, back then, I don’t know how they do it now, but they used to send you a bunch of rookie cards,” Jeter explained. “They’d send me twenty of them, and you could keep it. So my parents used to collect all the memorabilia, baseball cards, and everything.
“We had a flood in our house. Everything got ruined. So I lost a lot of memorabilia and baseball cards. So when I conversed with Brian (Lee), he explained it to me, and it hit home. He said that before, the trading card industry was almost like a secret society for years, and I think it’s coming to the forefront.”
Introducing our founding partner, Derek Jeter.
We are lucky to have Derek aboard to define our culture, shape our priorities, and share our goals with the community.
We are building a community centered on collectors, trust, and transparency.
Jeter is a five-time World Series champion with the Yankees and had a well-known three-peat run from 1998-2000. He shared his wisdom about securing rare accomplishments and what the Chiefs may have to do to make history.
“You have to stay hungry,” Jeter said. “I told someone a couple of weeks ago (that) we had won championships. No one walked around with their championship ring; I was over with it. It doesn’t make a difference that you won. Nobody cares. When we’re playing a new season, you have to stay hungry. I think the more success you have at times, the more challenging it can be.”
The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers are the last team of the four major American professional sports to accomplish the three-peat.
For more information on Arena Club, please log on to their website.
The late Kobe Bryant is still in many basketball fans’ hearts, and his trading cards are still highly sought after. The 1996-97 Topps Chrome Refractor, his rookie card, is a popular choice among investors, with the 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal …
The late Kobe Bryant is still in many basketball fans’ hearts, and his trading cards are still highly sought after. The 1996-97 Topps Chrome Refractor, his rookie card, is a popular choice among investors, with the 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Green being the most expensive.
Derek Jeter’s Arena Club discuss the value of Kansas City #Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes trading cards w/ @EdEastonJr
The sports memorabilia industry is filled with valuable assets featuring many of the greatest players in history, and the star quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs is at the forefront of many deals.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Arena Club co-founder Derek Jeter, co-founder/CEO Jesse Glass, and CTO Vartul Agrawal about the business’s continued growth and Patrick Mahomes’ card value.
“I first met Brian Lee in 2014, right after I retired at an event in Las Vegas and (I knew of) his success as an entrepreneur,” said Jeter. “We reconnected years later, and he told me about Arena Club.”
Jeter’s interest in sports memorabilia was helpful as it further expounded on the importance of value for current and former athletes.
“It all started with my co-founder and CEO, Brian (Lee), and wanting to do a better job than what’s currently happening in the hobby, especially with grading and marketplaces,” said Glass. “We felt that with AI and the advent of technology, grading should be cheaper, transparent, and more accessible to more people, which led us to start the grading part of Arena Club.”
Arena Club’s mission is to eliminate the confinement of collector communities to four walls. Instead of hiding your cards in shoe boxes in a closet, you can share and display them in a personal online showroom or on your mobile device.
“Security is very important to us because, in the end, it’s good that people are collecting, which has a lot of value to it, So it would help if you authenticated it. So there are different security aspects,” said Agrawal. “So if you show me the card, like, if you see the label, there are various security aspects to the label itself, so people cannot fake it; that’s what ensures the authenticity of the physical card itself.
Jesse Glass (Left) & Vartul Agrawal (Right)
Powered by advanced machines, Arena Club’s grading process is accurate, fast, and transparent. Your card is provided with a full grade rationale and an explanation of how it was scored. One of the highest-valued athlete cards of choice has been Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“People love Patrick Mahomes cards; he’s like the gold standard,” Glass explained. “I know we have for our Slab Packs; we always have grail cards at the top that attract people to like; it’s the hardest one to get. And so we’ve used Patrick Mahomes a lot. It’s a tried and true bellwether player. Everyone loves him. There’s no debate. So he’s definitely the GOAT when it comes to current NFL players.”
Arena Club now features Slab Packs, virtual packs of real pre-graded cards that you can purchase and open. Packs are revealed digitally and the cards are put in your showroom immediately. You can sell, trade, or retrieve the physical slab from there.
For more information on Arena Club, please log on to their website.
Derek Jeter discusses Kansas City #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ best quality as a captain with @EdEastonJr
The early success of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes as a leader on three Super Bowl-winning teams is hard to compare with other athletes. A world-renowned champion and icon doesn’t come around often, as few can lead effectively with the everyday pressure.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to legendary New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter after his appearance at Fanatics Fest in New York City about his thoughts on Mahomes as a team captain and his work in sports memorabilia with Arena Club.
“He cares about winning,” Jeter explained about the reigning Super Bowl MVP. “That’s all he talks about. See how he plays on the field, and he’s there. He plays every day, and you have to be present. I think his teammates can count on it. But everything that comes out of his mouth is always about wins, not anything personal. And I think that rubs off on the rest of your organization, not just your teammates but the whole organization.”
Since retiring after the 2014 season, Jeter has started many successful business ventures. He is a co-creator of Arena Club, a revolutionary online marketplace and grading platform for sports cards that transforms the collecting experience through AI appraisal and blockchain storage.
“Honesty, transparency. I think those are the key. Safety number one. You want to know if you’ve given someone your cards to vault, that you can get them back when you want them in the same condition that you sent it to them,” said Jeter. “I’m not talking about any other companies out there, but I think there’s a lot of confusion sometimes just when you start talking about the grading. What’s the reason for a particular grade? You really wouldn’t get a reason for it. So, we wanted to bring honesty and transparency into the trading cards.”
The move marks Panini’s first foray into golf after 60-plus years in the sports collectibles space.
Since its inception, LIV Golf hasn’t been afraid to try new things.
The league announced its latest partnership on Thursday morning, a multi-year deal with trading card company, Panini. The move marks Panini’s first foray into golf after 60-plus years in the sports collectibles space.
Products aren’t yet available, but physical trading cards will be released under the Prizm and Impeccable brands in the third quarter of this year according to Sports Business Journal, who was first to report the news. In the future, Panini will also launch an instant card program, where real-time cards will be released after tournaments that feature highlights from the season. Team card sets can be pre-ordered now.
“We have often thought about how to introduce some of our most popular trading card brands to golf, but the sport always had challenges. LIV Golf brought in a whole new dynamic into the sport with their fresh, unique and innovative approach,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop. “The team and league format aligns itself to something that did not exist that creates another level of collectability for fans.”
The league returns to play next week in Saudi Arabia with LIV Golf Jeddah, March 1-3, at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City.
A young trading card collector from Wichita, Kansas is passionate about collecting cards of #Chiefs K Harrison Butker. | from @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs have a talented and loyal fan base that isn’t afraid to show their love for the team and its players. Many popular players include skill players Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, and Mecole Hardman, but for this story, it’s kicker Harrison Butker who has garnered one fan’s attention.
A video surfaced recently featuring a young football trading cards collector passionate about the Chiefs’ starting kicker. 12-year-old Parker Frederking showcases an unparalleled collection of Butker trading cards.
“I watched Butker kick the go-ahead field goal. And ever since I’ve been collecting cards,” said Frederking. “I discovered that he was Catholic and I go to a Catholic school, and it’s kind of cool to know that Butker’s also Catholic.”
Frederking is ranked number one in the number of unique cards of Butker on the trading card database website. He acknowledged having around 120 cards based on the Chiefs’ all-time field goal distance record holder.
“So I started this group of them about a year ago-ish, and my newest card that I just got was the gold out of 10,” said Frederking. “Couple of special cards up here. I have my Canadian stamp one of one, Butker.”
A nice homage to the Chiefs’ consistent kicker is a reminder of how passionate and essential the team is to the fans. Frederking isn’t bothered by the question he’s always asked when showing his collection.
“They’re just kind of like, ‘You collect a kicker?’”
Fanatics has a sports betting operation on the way.
Popular Philadelphia 76ers minority owner Michael Rubin will be selling his ten percent stake in the company that owns the Sixers and New Jersey Devils, he announced in a letter to fans Wednesday.
The CEO of Fanatics, a licensed sports merchandise behemoth, Rubin explained that the expansion of his company into other businesses, including sports betting, creates a conflict of interest for him as a team owner.
“As our Fanatics business has grown, so too have the obstacles I have to navigate to ensure our businesses don’t conflict with my responsibilities as part-owner of the Sixers,” Rubin said. “With the launch of our trading cards and collectibles business this year – which will have individual contracts with thousands of athletes globally – and a soon-to-launch sports betting operation, these new businesses will directly conflict with the ownership rules of sports leagues.
“Given these realities, I will sadly be selling my stake in the Sixers and shifting from part-owner back to life-long fan.”
Michael Rubin is selling his 10% ownership stake in HBSE, the company that owns the 76ers and Devils, in a deal valued at at approximately $300 million.
Fanatics' player partnerships and anticipated gambling division interfere with team ownership rules.
Last June, Fanatics hired former FanDuel CEO Matt King to lead its expansion into online sports betting and gaming. The New York Postreported that the company had been laying the groundwork for a move into gaming several months prior to the hire.
