The Olympic Games are an event that may drive interest and recognition, not only for a selected sport or individual athlete, but additionally for a variety of collectibles. The global nature of the Olympic Games, the best way they convey fans of various sports together and attract casual and even non-sports fans – that's something that may drive demand.
Take basketball, for instance: The men’s gold medal game between the USA and France had a median of 19.5 million viewers within the USA alone, while the last NBA Finals average 11.3 million viewers. The women's gold medal match led to a draw 7.8 million viewers within the US (at 9:30 a.m. ET) and last 12 months’s WNBA finals Average 728,000While this sudden influx of latest attention can create a brief and immediate surge in interest that fades just as quickly, in some cases it might even be the inspiration for longer-term growth. It might be an introduction that creates recent fans and collectors.
With this in mind, let’s look back on the 2024 Olympic Games using eBay’s insights:
Athletes (and rappers) who saw a surge in collector interest
The most searched basketball players of the US team throughout the Olympic Games on eBay were LeBron James, Anthony Edwards And Stephanie Curry. James and Curry's spots there will not be surprising given their status as legends of the sport and their performances in big moments for Team USA, but that Edwards is being looked for at this level inside a marketplace (and not only on a more general interest platform like Google) is notable.
On the day Team USA defeated Serbia within the semifinals, Edwards' ungraded 202o Panini Prizm silver card (a preferred parallel in the preferred NBA set, which has a rather more favorable supply/demand balance than its loads of Prizm Base Rookie Card) has returned to the worth level it reached in the beginning of the NBA Western Conference Finals in May (around $320), when he was probably the greatest players of the postseason as much as that time. That's up from the sub-$200 level it dropped to in late June/early July. Edwards didn't have a standout performance within the Olympic tournament semifinals or finals, so there was one other drop, but the cardboard continues to be higher than the lows it hit after his NBA playoff exit. He'll must take one other step forward this season, nevertheless, and perform higher in key moments to proceed to drive collector interest in him.
Steph Curry (left) and Anthony Edwards after receiving their gold medals. (Photo: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)
For the ladies, probably the most searched US team players on eBay were: Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Diana TaurasiAnd Kelsey Plum. Taurasi didn’t take part in the gold medal game and averaged just 1 point per game within the tournament, but won her sixth gold medal – a brand new record for the game. Noticeably absent from this group is Aja Wilsonwho was named the tournament MVP and can also be the clear favorite to win a 3rd WNBA MVP trophy this season. There have all the time been players whose accomplishments far exceeded collector interest, but here it looks like a generational talent/all-time star is seriously undervalued.
However, the Olympic Games gave a lift to the world of ladies's sports collecting. Katie Ledecky Sales increased throughout the Olympics, reaching a brand new high of $4,037 for his or her 2024 Topps Chrome Ledecky Legacy signed Superfraktor (a novel parallel, see picture below). Two Simone Biles tickets sold for greater than $2,000 each. Most impressive, nevertheless, was that two superfractors, an autograph And a patchfrom the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic Set by Ilona Maherstar of the bronze-winning U.S. rugby team sold for $1,743 and $1,500 respectively – not removed from sales for Biles, a more established star in a sport that’s more popular within the United States.
Judging the long-term value of Olympic athletes in sports that don't annually generate mainstream interest within the U.S. is all the time tricky. Ledecky and Biles could do well, as the previous has probably the most Olympic gold medals amongst female athletes (nine) and the latter isn't far behind (seven), and each have a bigger cultural presence. Their legacies are assured. But unless rugby experiences a dramatic surge in popularity, it seems difficult for Maher to have the identical endurance. (However, monetary value is commonly not the first concern for collectors — especially in the event that they never intend to sell a selected item — and it's often impossible to attend for more buyer-friendly terms when unique items change into available.)
The US women’s soccer team won gold thanks partially to the trio of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman And Mallory Swanson (or “Triple Espresso”, as they called themselves), all of whom scored important goals and all of whom saw major eBay search spikes when they did so. Searches for Swanson increased 580 percent on eBay (compared to the previous week) after she scored the gold medal-winning goal against Brazil. Cards from the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic set that Autographs from Smith and Swanson (pictured below) have attracted particular interest, with peak selling prices of $628 and $700 on August 18, per week after the tournament ended.
Among the finalists in men's tennis were some non-US athletes who also had large search spikes. After he won the gold medal, searches for Novak Djokovic rose by 450 percent in comparison with the previous week and searches for silver medalists Carlos Alcaraz rose 80 percent. These are two of the biggest names in an already popular sport, so the fact that Olympic success could drive a rise in market searches is evidence that the event is attracting a new, wider audience. With the US Open now underway and a newly released Topps Chrome Tennis is established, it is possible to maintain part of this interest.
The Olympics can also blur the already sometimes blurred lines between sports and non-sports collectibles. Snoop Dogg's personalized Olympic pins went viral, leading eBay users worldwide to search for “Snoop Dogg Pin,” nearly 140 times per hour on July 30 and 31. And with the 2028 Olympics going down in his hometown of Los Angeles, this will likely not be the last we hear of Snoop Dogg’s Olympic pins.
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 29, 2024
Industry views
The athlete
The interest within the Snoop pin and Olympic pins generally is indicative of the range of collectibles which have gained popularity lately.
“Trading cards are obviously a huge part of it, but the interesting thing is that new categories emerge and sometimes these things disappear and sometimes they stick around,” eBay Vice President and General Manager of Global Collectibles Adam Ireland said last month throughout the National Sports Collectors Convention. He cited sealed vintage electronics and Type 1 Photographs as examples.
“Someone once told me that it's kind of like that 25-year window where you start to get nostalgic, and that's the point where people now have the money and they spend it on things that remind them of those happy childhood days,” he added, saying that they see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Merchandise is doing well because it now suits the time slot of older generations, while the franchise's recent movies and shows also attract a younger audience.
Chad Ochocinco draws a crowd to an eBay Live broadcast at The National. (Photo courtesy of eBay)
Trading card games that may appeal to that nostalgic appeal are also attracting a whole lot of interest. Ireland says he’s “super optimistic” about them. “Obviously (Disney) Lorcana has provided that area one other big boost, but Pokémon continues to be going strong, among the recent Magic: The Gathering releases have been really, really successful. … (Lorcana) and Disney collectible pinsa number of historical artifacts, toys, vinyl – there are only so many categories (within the collectibles space), but you discover that sports as a single subject takes up the most important portion.”
“King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch,” the Netflix series about Goldin Auctions, which was recently acquired by eBay, is meant to assist increase interest in collectibles, in response to Ireland.
“Collecting is easy to think of as a niche area, but they've reached number four on the Netflix charts and that's going to bring more and more people into the hobby,” he said. “It's amazing how many people I've talked to and they've said, 'Oh, my wife saw the show and now she understands why I'm passionate about this stuff.' And from that perspective, I think it's just going to open up and democratize the whole thing.”
image credit : www.nytimes.com