Jul 28-
The Value Of A Signed Patrick Mahomes Rookie Card
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY! This morning, an autographed rookie card for Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes sold for $4.3 million.
This is a record for an NFL player card ever sold. In response to the news of the sale, Mahomes took to Twitter and said “My goodness”
My goodness 🤯 https://t.co/iCGgDa2dnL
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) July 28, 2021
Mahomes’ 2017 National Treasures NFL Shield Rookie Card was acquired by LJ’s Card Shop. The price for the 2017 Mahomes card broke the record of Tom Brady’s rookie card that previously sold for $3.1 million.
The Sports Card Market
Sports card trading is considered to be one of America’s great pastimes. The sports card market is now a multi-billion dollar industry that is continuing to grow. Over the past decade, the card market has expanded through online stores and marketplaces. Cardmakers such as Topps, Panini America, and Upper Deck sell cases of cards to retailers, and those cards are funneled down to collectors who are willing to pay premiums.
In a recent article by Sports Collectors Daily, there was an estimated $871 million worth of sports cards sold on eBay in Q1 2021. It was also included in this report that roughly 139 cards were sold per minute between January 2021 – March 2021. According to Sports Collectors Daily, these insane numbers were driven by collectors, flippers, and those who are turning to trading cards as another avenue of investment to diversify their portfolios. Here are some more numbers from the report that will also catch your eye:
- Sales of soccer cards grew from $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2020 to $24.7 million. Some of that is undoubtedly tied to the number of new products that have been introduced to the market over the last 18 months, but the figures would indicate there is no shortage of buyers.
- Basketball card sales soared from $98.2 million in the first quarter of 2020 to $389 million in 2021.
- Football cards grew from $42.2 million in the first three months of 2020 to $197.2 million in 2021 (+367%).
- Baseball sales were $80.4 million in Q1 of 2020. They were $234.9 million during the same quarter this year (+192%)
- Hockey cards went from $5.8 million to $22.4 million (+286%)
- Interest in the few tennis card products in the market went from virtually nothing (approximately $100,000 in Q1 2020 to $2.7 million from January-March of this year (+5,157%).
It’s undeniable that these numbers are absolutely insane. On the topic, Bill Shea of The Athletic said:
“The sizzling sports card/collectibles market, accelerated during the pandemic by cash-laden investors seeking fun alternative assets, continues to burn on. There have been at least 15 card sales topping $1 million since August 2020.”
Now that Mahomes’ 2017 Rookie Card shattered the record for the most expensive card ever purchased, it makes us think when we will see the record broken again. Will it come in the short term? That is something that I can’t say at this point. What is clear is that the trading card market is booming more than ever before and it’s bound to keep its pace.
If you like this article, be sure to check out more of our football content! Also, we are launching our new Weekly Tournament game for NFL this season so be sure to look out for that. We will be doing free-rolls and large prize pools all season!
