Global Sports Trading Card Market Size By Type (Character Card, Image Card, Autograph Card), By Distribution Channel (Big Box Retailers, Supermarkets, Breakers, Hobby Shops), By Application (Baseball, Basketball, Association Football, Cricket), By Geographic Scope And Forecast

Sports Trading Card Market Size And Forecast

Sports Trading Card Market size was valued at USD 12.62 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 23.08 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.80% from 2024 to 2031.

The global Sports Trading Card market has witnessed strong growth owing to the significant technological advancements in the field of sports trading cards. Some sports leagues are constantly taking place and have up to five trading-card licensees. The four major sports leagues signed “exclusive” trading card deals with just one card manufacturer. Both the NBA and the NFL’s current card partner is Panini America; Upper Deck has the license for the NHL and Topps for MLB. The huge population base presence in this field particularly in developed countries across the globe is estimated to drive the growth of the Sports Trading Card Market in the upcoming years. The Global Sports Trading Card Market report provides a holistic evaluation of the market. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of key segments, trends, drivers, restraints, competitive landscape, and factors that are playing a substantial role in the market.

What are Sports Trading Card?

A trading card, also known as a collectible card, is a small card made of paperboard or thick paper that typically contains a picture of a person, location, or item (fictional or real) and other text, such as statistics or trivia. Baseball cards are particularly well-known. Trading cards are primarily associated with sports. Non-sports trading cards deal with other games, such as Pokémon, and are classified separately from sports trading cards. Characters from comic books, cartoons, television shows, and film stills are often used. Sports trading cards are separate cards designed exclusively for playing sports. These card games are commonly fantasy-based gameplay. These are a form of trading card that focuses solely on the artwork. The game with the most unique cards is regarded as the most popular, and it currently ranks first in the sports trading card market.

Card companies create and print collections of cards each year that represent players and events from the previous season. The supply of each distinct card in a set is fixed until the print run of that set has been completed. The value of a card is determined by its rarity; the player portrayed, and the card’s state. The card condition is the physical state of the printing’s edges, corners, surface, and centering. A 10-point scale is commonly used to track card conditions. For example, flawless characteristics (even under microscopic inspection) will receive a perfect 10, while visible defects to the naked eye, such as slight wear on the card’s corners, will receive a 7 on the corners scale.

Global Sports Trading Card Market Overview

Sports trading cards also referred to as collectibles is a type of card usually formulated using cardboard, silk or plastics. These cards have images of popular players in their respective sports printed on them. Originally trading cards were designed to be sold as an advertising card with cigarette packets in order to stiffen its packaging. However, with emergence of multi-colour printing or colour lithography, the trading carding popularity was upsurge. In 1950, Topps Chewing Gum Inc. created the first sports trading card, which featured football stars. These cards were sold as complementary item with bubble gum by the company.

However, with passage of time these cards gained immense popularity and become extremely valuable. However, intense competition and over production led to lowering its value in the market. Hence, to overcome this scenario, companies have started to market premium cards which are limited editions and highly priced. Several auctions have been held for the sale of vintage trading cards, with final auction value reaching nearly USD 4 million. In 2021, the Mike Trout rookie card was sold for USD 3.9 million in an auction, which made it the highest selling sports card of all time.

Among the various sports cards marketed, baseball sports cards hold widespread popularity. Baseball is followed by soccer, football, hockey, and basketball. However, with rising popularity of other sports such as cricket has propelled trading card companies to focus on them as well. For instance, in 2020, the England cricket board which established The Hundred, collaborated with Topps to design bespoke trading card game, Cricket Attax, the one of its kind English cricket collections.

Global Sports Trading Card MarketSegmentation Analysis

The Global Sports Trading Cards Market is segmented based on Type, Distribution Channel, Application, and Geography.

Sports Trading Card Market, By Type

• Character Card
• Image Card
• Autograph Card
• Others

To Get a Summarized Market Report By Type-

The Global Sports Trading Card Market is experiencing a scaled level of attractiveness in the Autograph Cards segment. The Autograph Cards segment has a prominent presence and holds a major share of the global market. Autograph Cards segment is anticipated to account for the significant market share of 61.59% by 2030. The segment is projected to gain an incremental market value of USD 5,456.48 Million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.40% between 2023 and 2030.

Sports trading cards with player or professional athlete autographs are known as autograph cards. Autograph on the sports cards helps enhance the card’s value, making it unique and special for the fans. As the autograph represents the direct link of the signer to the receiver, the signature increases its sentimental, emotional, and aesthetic value. Different types of autographed sports trading cards, which includes sticker autograph cards and on-card autograph cards. The sticker auto cards are sports cards that are not autographed on the card; instead, it has a sticker with an autograph by the player or a sportsman. The on-card autographs are the cards where the athlete handled and signed the card. This trend of autograph cards was introduced in 1997. However, these are now considered highlights and attracts various potential collector.

Sports Trading Cards Market, By Distribution Channel

• Big Box Retailers
• Supermarkets
• Breakers
• Hobby Shops
• Others

The Global Sports Trading Card Market is experiencing a scaled level of attractiveness in the Big Box Retailers. The Big Box Retailers segment has a prominent presence and holds the major share of the global market. The Big Box Retailers segment is anticipated to account for a significant market share of 35.06% by 2030. The segment is projected to gain an incremental market value of USD 3,034.00 Million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.14% between 2023 and 2030.

A big-box retailer is a retailer that has a significant physical footprint and provides a wide range of goods to its customers. These stores concentrate on high sales volumes to obtain economies of scale. Due to the enormous volume, it is possible to reduce the profit margin for each product, leading to very competitive pricing. The word “big box” comes from how the store looks. They are located in monumental buildings that are more than 50,000 square feet in size. The stores are typically plain and frequently resemble big boxes. Big-box businesses include Walmart, Home Depot, Tesco, and Ikea, to name a few.

Sports Trading Card Market, By Application

• Cricket
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Association Football
• Boxing
• Cycling
• American Football
• Soccer
• Others

To Get a Summarized Market Report By Application-

The Global Sports Trading Card Market is experiencing a scaled level of attractiveness in Baseball. The Baseball segment has a prominent presence and holds the major share of the global market. Baseball segment is anticipated to account for a significant market share of 52.57% by 2030. The segment is projected to gain an incremental market value of USD 4,557.14 Million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.14% between 2023 and 2030.

Baseball is a well-known game, majorly played in the U.S., and is widespread across several countries such as Canada, Japan, South Korea, Cuba, and Italy. Major leagues indicate the activity in the game; Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, South Korea’s KBO League, and Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays are some major leagues other than the U.S. major league. Trading cards are primarily popular and avidly collected by baseball fans. The fans and collectors avidly seek the U.S. and Canada-based players’ trading cards. Several factors play a role in deciding the card’s value, including the player, the condition of cards such as edge, corners, centering of image, surface quality, print year, grade or ungraded condition, errors, scarcity, and others.

Sports Trading Card Market, By Geography

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East and Africa

North America accounted for the largest market share of 65.37% in 2022, with a market value of USD 8,249.95 million and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 8.43% during the forecast period. U.S. accounted for the largest market share of 87.49% in 2022, with a market value of USD 7,218.14 million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.36% during the forecast period. Canada was the second-largest market in 2022, valued at USD 679.42 million in 2022; it is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 9.27%.

Europe was the second-largest market in 2022, valued at USD 2,466.04 million in 2022; it is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.50%. Germany accounted for the largest market share of 29.86% in 2022, with a market value of USD 736.34 Million and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.23% during the forecast period. U.K. was the second-largest market in 2022, valued at USD 443.09 Million in 2022; it is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.55%. However, Poland is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 8.55%.

Key Players

The major players in the market are Panni S.P.A., The Topps Company, Inc., Futera, Leaf Trading Cards, Upper Deck Company, TRISTAR Productions, Inc., Hit Parade, AAMANGO, Blowout Cards, Burbank Sportscards, and others. This section provides a company overview, ranking analysis, company regional and industry footprint, and ACE Matrix. Our market analysis also entails a section solely dedicated to such major players wherein our analysts provide an insight into the financial statements of all the major players, along with Type benchmarking and SWOT analysis.

Key Developments