Growth in international collectors (what sport do you focus on? is NBA most popular?)

[Cigarsmoke23]

I've read on various threads that more international collectors were investing/coming in the sports cards hobby.

I'm curious to know from any actual users on this board outside the USA about what sports leagues you're following the most.

I assume it's basketball/NBA since it's popular in Europe/Asia and has the most individual star power (e.g. Curry, Kobe, Jordan, Lebron) that can transcend cultures and regions.

I get the sense that Football and Baseball are probably a distant second and third, given they are only really played in USA at a highly competitive level. With that said, do you as collectors still invest in these sports considering those limitations. For example, if you're based outside the USA, do you care about investing in Mike Trout cards?

Looking forward to your responses!

[Lee42]

NBA is still fairly well collected in Australia along with the local sports card releases (AFL/Rugby League) that we have here.

[ninjacookies]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say Soccer is number 1.


Japan and South Korea are probably the biggest countries outside of south america that have a strong presence in the high end baseball market. Everywhere else people probably think Mike Trout is a dumb american delicacy.

[sirvete]

Well, in Spain it was always tradition of stickers cards. I could say since 80s. It a hobby more for under 15y. Also the cards are worthless .

I follow more NBA, but soccer its really deep on the spanish-european society. Just check the top sport players in Instagram and u will see that soccer its huge around world.

About invest in Mike Trout, I dont even know how he looks :/ . I could ask u, could u invest in Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo cards?

[RogerGodahell]

Soccer is clearly the most popular sport in the world but it's not the most popular sport in the hobby. That is because it's predominantly an American hobby.

I don't even know what the most popular of the 4 major sports is worldwide outside the U.S. I would probably guess basketball closely followed by baseball then football. I would say basketball has more room to grow because a lot of countries play it as youth sports. And there are already several leagues around the world outside of the NBA. It's a cheap sport to play kind of like soccer. All you need is a ball and a hoop.

[ninjacookies]

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

Soccer is clearly the most popular sport in the world but it's not the most popular sport in the hobby. That is because it's predominantly an American hobby.

Not even close.

It's soccer, and their world cup sticker collections continue to be their biggest money maker both domestically and globally.


https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/w...-revenue-mark/


They are a sticker manufacturer first and foremost. Basketball and football, while they may seem large to domestic collectors, are just a tiny blip on their financial radar.

[RogerGodahell]

Huh, i never would have thought that. How come they aren't all over eBay? Or are they?

[ninjacookies]

Yeah, it's crazy. I guess there's a massive group of people that buy and collect soccer stickers. I know a few have chimed in before, but I'm guessing there's a lot more collectors vs. flippers in that world.

I remember some guy chiming in saying they put a Zion promo sticker in one of the recent releases which was being flipped for crazy money.

[RogerGodahell]

I wonder if they sell expensive sticker packs similar to cards, or maybe the revenue is so high just based on volume because of the popularity of soccer.

[ninjacookies]

Never ventured into that part of their web store, but I'd be surprised if they had high end stickers.

I once bought a basketball sticker booklet to fill out an order to qualify for free shipping. Seems like stuff geared more towards children and adolescents.

[smalltown]

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

I wonder if they sell expensive sticker packs similar to cards, or maybe the revenue is so high just based on volume because of the popularity of soccer.

No high end stickers.

My son love the sticker books much more than the cards if we're being honest.

[bjho852]

Though having been in the US for almost 20 years, I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and had lived there for 18 years, having finished secondary school as well as 1 year of post-secondary institution.

While already very popular in Hong Kong, NBA is still behind soccer (called football outside the US) there. Many fans indeed wake up midnight just to watch those games, not just international competitions such as World Cup, but also club competitions like England Premier League, Spanish La Liga, UEFA Champions League, etc.

[bjho852]

Just saw some of you folks' posts about stickers. Not a vivid sticker collector myself, but I did buy a sticker book and two boxes of stickers for the most recent World Cup, when the tournament was on, just to re-live the old memories.

[ninjacookies]

Futbol de Internacional > everything.

[AK9]

Worth noting that the biggest sports cards manufacturer today started off making money selling stickers back in the 60s...and then made it big time with futbol stickers first. I think that new products that can eventually bridge collecting cultures will ultimately win out long term.

[bjho852]

Though having been manufacturing stickers for years, if not decades, Panini actually stepped into the field of soccer/football trading cards just a few years ago.

[patchgenie]

I'm starting to get into soccer with box prices not being crazy like basketball. seems like a lot of people in the US are watching premier league mornings now.

[bjho852]

Originally Posted by patchgenie

I'm starting to get into soccer with box prices not being crazy like basketball. seems like a lot of people in the US are watching premier league mornings now.

Topps has the exclusive trading card license for Premier League. The company has the exclusive license for Bundesliga too, if I remember correctly.

Edit: looks like Panini produces Premier League trading cards now. I stand corrected.

[AK9]

I think it will take time, but Panini will continue to gain traction globally with futbol/soccer cards as more products break into that market. Panini has made a lot of good stuff over the years and for the most part, it has been appreciated by the more US centric sports cards collectors...with NBA basketball now at the forefront. Thus, I personally like and believe in the long term investment value of the soccer cards that can capture unique traits and qualities of the successful and good looking US centric sports cards, again particularly basketball cards. Here’s my favorite:

[hawkfandan]

That's a beautiful Ronaldo man.

[ninjacookies]

Please don't give the botbois new ideas.

[mvp]

I cut my teeth on ‘94 Masters and Dynamic Rugby League, and was pretty into collecting for quite a few years after that. I knew a few people who’d collect basketball, but I was never into it.

I moved to the USA not too long ago and started collecting basketball (and now baseball), and now also want to get back into collecting Rugby League. Might be hard from here though ��.

Im also a pretty big Premier League fan, but have never felt the need to pick up a pack of Premier League Prizm when I see it on the shelf. Maybe that will change one day.

[kingofsnake]

My view is rather China/Hong Kong-centric, but I see card sales in Asia being about 75% and Soccer 25%. A big part of this are the strong rookie classes of the last two years in the NBA, as well as the lack of interesting soccer products. Topps Soccer products are pretty middling - no on-card autos to speak of - while Panini hasn't had really appealing products since National Treasures and Immaculate. Impeccable is coming out but the sell sheet looks a bit underwhelming. We'll see how it does.

[bwalter1]

Soccer
Basketball
Baseball
Football
Hockey?

I think that you have to look at teams location. With soccer it is worldwide and I think popularity comes from what it takes to play imo. Outside of the US it just takes a ball to play soccer. Basketball is ball and goal. Baseball requires bat ball and gloves. Football requires pads helmet and ball. Think about a country that is not as rich as the US, think they can outfit a team with a full set of pads?

[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by bwalter1

Soccer
Basketball
Baseball
Football
Hockey?

I think that you have to look at teams location. With soccer it is worldwide and I think popularity comes from what it takes to play imo. Outside of the US it just takes a ball to play soccer. Basketball is ball and goal. Baseball requires bat ball and gloves. Football requires pads helmet and ball. Think about a country that is not as rich as the US, think they can outfit a team with a full set of pads?

you also can play soccer & basketball by yourself. practicing dribbling, shooting, etc. you can play an actual game with any even number of people (1v1, 2v2, 5v5)

baseball you can technically practice by yourself, but that requires a whole lot of balls and machinery, which is an even higher barrier of entry. to play an actual game I don't know the exact minimum number of players but I'd imagine it would be hard to play with less than at least 7 on the field?

football is not popular anywhere besides the US and I imagine as more and more information is released on the long term health effects, it will eventually die or be forced to change, which will piss off all the boomers

overall I'd say long term, soccer and basketball will continue to be the most successful due to the broad appeal and accessibility