The Olympics are an occasion that may gas progress in curiosity and recognition, not only for a given sport or particular person athlete, however for an array of collectibles, as effectively. The worldwide nature of the Olympics, the way in which they cross-pollinate followers of various sports activities and attract very informal and even non-sports followers — it’s one thing that may supercharge demand.
Take basketball for instance — the lads’s gold-medal sport between the U.S. and France averaged 19.5 million viewers within the U.S. alone, whereas the latest NBA Finals averaged 11.3 million viewers. The ladies’s gold-medal sport drew 7.8 million viewers within the U.S. (at 9:30 a.m. ET), and final yr’s WNBA Finals averaged 728,000. Whereas that sudden inflow of latest eyeballs can produce a short and rapid surge of curiosity that simply as rapidly evaporates, it may also be the inspiration for longer-term progress in some instances. It may be an introduction that creates new followers and collectors.
With that in thoughts, let’s look again on the 2024 Olympics utilizing insights from eBay:
Athletes (and rappers) who noticed a surge of collector curiosity
Essentially the most searched Staff USA males’s basketball gamers inside eBay through the Olympics had been LeBron James, Anthony Edwards and Steph Curry. James and Curry’s locations there shouldn’t be stunning, given their standing as legends of the sport and the way they got here by way of in huge moments for Staff USA, however Edwards being searched at that degree inside a market (quite than simply on a extra common curiosity platform like Google) is noteworthy.
The day Staff USA beat Serbia within the semifinals, Edwards’ ungraded 202o Panini Prizm silver card (a preferred parallel in the most well-liked NBA set that has a bit extra favorable provide/demand steadiness than his plentiful Prizm base rookie card) returned to the worth degree it reached at first of the NBA Western Convention finals in Could (round $320), when he was one of many postseason’s high performers to that time, up from the sub-$200 degree it dropped to in late June/early July. Edwards didn’t produce a standout efficiency within the semifinal or last of the Olympic event, so there was one other decline, however the card stays increased than the lows it hit after his NBA playoff elimination. He’ll must take one other leap ahead this season and have higher showings in key moments so as to additional develop the extent of collector curiosity in him, although.
Steph Curry (left) and Anthony Edwards after receiving their gold medals. (Photograph: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP through Getty Photographs)
On the ladies’s aspect, essentially the most searched Staff USA gamers on eBay had been Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, and Kelsey Plum. Taurasi didn’t play within the gold-medal sport and averaged simply 1 ppg for the event, however she gained her sixth gold medal — a brand new file for the game. Noticeably absent from that group is A’ja Wilson, who was named MVP of the event and can be the clear favourite to assert a 3rd WNBA MVP trophy this season. There have at all times been gamers who far outperform the extent of collector curiosity in them, however this appears to be like like a generational expertise/all-time nice being critically undervalued.
The Olympics offered a lift to girls’s sports activities collectibles although. Katie Ledecky gross sales grew all through the Olympics, peaking with a brand new all-time excessive of $4,037 for her 2024 Topps Chrome Ledecky Legacy autographed superfractor (a one-of-a-kind parallel, pictured under). Two Simone Biles playing cards bought for greater than $2,000 every. However maybe most spectacular was that two superfractors, one autograph and one patch, from the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic set of Ilona Maher, star of the USA rugby bronze-winning workforce, bought for $1,743 and $1,500, respectively — not too far off from these gross sales for Biles, a extra established star in a sport that’s extra well-liked within the U.S.
Assessing long-term worth of Olympic athletes in sports activities that don’t maintain annual mainstream curiosity within the U.S. is at all times troublesome. Ledecky and Biles might maintain robust for the reason that former is tied for essentially the most profession Olympic gold medals amongst feminine athletes (9) and the latter isn’t far behind (seven) and each have extra of a cultural presence. Their legacies are set. However until rugby undergoes a dramatic rise in reputation, it appears troublesome for Maher to have the identical endurance. (That mentioned, financial worth typically isn’t the first concern for collectors — notably in the event that they by no means intend to promote a given merchandise — and ready for extra buyer-friendly situations when one-of-a-kind objects change into out there typically isn’t potential.)
The USA girls’s soccer workforce gained gold thanks partially to the trio of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson (or “Triple Espresso,” as they’ve nicknamed themselves), who all scored huge targets and all noticed huge eBay search spikes after they did. Searches for Swanson jumped 580 p.c on eBay (in comparison with the earlier week) after she scored the gold medal clinching aim towards Brazil. Playing cards from the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic set that bear autographs from each Smith and Swanson (pictured under) have drawn explicit curiosity, with peak gross sales costs of $628 and $700 on August 18, per week after the event closed.
A few non-USA athletes who additionally had huge search spikes had been the lads’s tennis finalists. After he gained the gold medal, searches for Novak Djokovic rose 450 p.c in comparison with the week prior and searches for silver-medalist Carlos Alcaraz rose 80 p.c. These are two of the largest names in an already well-liked sport, so the truth that Olympic success might present a surge in market searches is a testomony to the brand new wider viewers the occasion brings. With the U.S. Open now underway and a newly launched Topps Chrome tennis set, there can be a possibility to retain a few of that curiosity.
The Olympics may blur the already generally fuzzy strains between sports activities and non-sports collectibles. Snoop Dogg’s customized Olympic pins went viral, leading to international eBay customers to look “Snoop Dogg pin” virtually 140 instances per hour on July 30 and 31. And for the reason that 2028 Olympics can be in his hometown of Los Angeles, this is probably not the final we hear of Snoop Dogg Olympic pins.
Coco Gauff’s obtained the @SnoopDogg #Olympics pin 🤩#Paris2024 | #tennis pic.twitter.com/W6zRDFoeae
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 29, 2024
Business views
As The Athletic proceed to develop its collectibles protection, we’ll embrace views and observations from across the interest. Since that is our first time diving into eBay insights, we start with the chief who oversees their collectibles operation.
Curiosity within the Snoop pin and Olympic pins generally factors to the number of collectibles which have gained in reputation in recent times.
“Clearly buying and selling playing cards is a big, large piece of it, however the factor that’s enjoyable is you see new classes that emerge and generally these issues disappear once more and generally they stick round,” eBay vice chairman and common supervisor of world collectibles Adam Eire instructed The Athletic through the Nationwide Sports activities Collectors Conference final month. He cited sealed classic electronics and Sort 1 pictures as examples.
“Somebody as soon as instructed me that it’s type of that 25-year window if you begin hitting nostalgia and that’s the purpose the place folks have gotten the cash now and are spending on issues that tie them again to these completely satisfied childhood days,” he added, saying that they’re seeing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise take off because it now suits that window for older generations, whereas the franchise’s new films and exhibits attract a youthful viewers as effectively.
Chad Ochocinco attracts a crowd to an eBay Reside broadcast at The Nationwide. (Photograph courtesy of eBay)
Buying and selling card video games, which may hit on that nostalgia enchantment, are additionally driving a variety of curiosity. Eire says he’s “tremendous bullish” on them. “Clearly (Disney) Lorcana has been one other huge enhance to that space, however you’ve nonetheless obtained Pokemon going robust, a few of the current Magic: The Gathering releases have been actually, actually profitable. … (Lorcana) and Disney collectible pins, a variety of historic artifacts, toys, vinyl – there’s simply so many classes (within the collectibles house), however you do discover that sports activities as a single factor turns into the biggest piece.”
“King of Collectibles: The Goldin Contact,” the Netflix sequence about Goldin Auctions, which eBay just lately acquired, is one thing Eire sees as serving to to broaden curiosity in collectibles.
“It’s straightforward to consider collectibles as a distinct segment space, however they hit quantity 4 on the Netflix charts and that’s simply going to deliver increasingly more folks into the interest,” he mentioned. “It’s superb how many individuals I’ve spoke to about they usually’ve been like, ‘Oh my spouse watched the present and now she understands why I get enthusiastic about these items.’ And so from that standpoint I feel it’s simply going to open it up, it’s going to democratize it extra.”
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(High photograph: Harry Langer/DeFodi Photographs through Getty Photographs)
