The Olympics are an event that can spark interest and growth in popularity, not just for a specific sport or individual athlete, but also for a range of collectibles. The global nature of the Olympics, the cross-pollination between fans of different sports and the way it appeals to very casual and even non-sports fans – this can fuel demand.
In basketball, for example, the men’s gold medal game between the United States and France was watched by 19.5 million viewers in the United States alone, while the recent NBA Finals averaged 11.3 million viewers. The women’s gold-medal game drew 7.8 million viewers in the United States (9:30 a.m. ET), compared with last year’s WNBA Finals average of 728,000 viewers. While a sudden influx of new eyeballs can create a brief and immediate surge of interest that quickly fades, in some cases it can also be the basis for long-term growth. It can be an introduction to creating new fans and collectors.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the 2024 Olympics, based on eBay insights:
Athletes (and rappers) seeing surge in collector interest
The most searched for American men’s basketball players on eBay during the Olympics were LeBron James, Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry. The placement of James and Curry should come as no surprise, as they’re legends of the game and have performed well in big moments for Team USA, but Edwards is in the market for this level of search (and not just out of the gate). Of more general interest) platforms like Google) are worth noting.
On the day Team USA defeated Serbia in the semifinals, Edwards’ ungraded 202o Panini Prizm Silver card (a popular parallel card in the most popular NBA series) had a more favorable supply-demand balance than his rich Prizm base rookie card. ) returned to the levels it reached at the start of the NBA Western Conference Finals in May (around $320) when he was one of the best performers in the playoffs, before falling to sub-$200 levels in late June/early July. Edwards dipped again as he didn’t have a stellar performance in the Olympic semifinals or finals, but this card is still higher than the lows he hit after being eliminated from the NBA playoffs. However, he will need to take another leap forward this season and perform better in clutch situations to further increase collector interest in him.
Stephen Curry (left) and Anthony Edwards after winning gold medals. (Photo: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP, Getty Images)
On the women’s side, the most searched for Team USA players on eBay are Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi and Kelsey Plum. Taurasi did not compete in the gold medal game, averaging just 1 point per game, but she won her sixth gold medal, setting a new record in the sport. Notably absent from the group is A’ja Wilson, who was named the tournament’s MVP and is the favorite to win his third WNBA MVP trophy this season. There are always some players who perform far beyond what collectors are interested in, but this looks like a generational talent/all-time great that is severely underrated.
However, the Olympics gave a boost to women’s sports collectibles. Katie Ledecky’s sales continued to grow throughout the Games, with her 2024 Topps Chrome Ledecky Legacy Autographed Super Crusher (a one-of-a-kind parallel, pictured below) hitting 4,037 The dollar’s all-time high. Two Simone Biles cards sold for more than $2,000 each. But perhaps most impressive of all, two super-fragments, an autograph and a patch, from USA Football Bronze star Ilona Maher’s 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic Pack went for $1,743 each dollars and sold for $1,500 — not far off from those prices.
It’s always difficult to assess the long-term value of Olympic athletes in sports that don’t attract annual mainstream interest in the United States. Ledecky and Biles will likely remain strong, as the former has the most Olympic gold medals among female athletes (nine), while the latter is not far behind (seven), and both have more culture Influence. Their legacy is set. But unless rugby’s popularity surges, it seems unlikely that Maher will have the same staying power. (That said, monetary value is usually not a collector’s primary concern—especially if they never plan to sell a particular item—and when a one-of-a-kind item becomes available, waiting for a condition that better suits the buyer usually isn’t either. possible.
Part of the reason the U.S. women’s soccer team won the gold medal was the trio of Sofia Smith, Trinity Rodman, and Mallory Swanson (who nicknamed themselves the “Triple Espresso”), who all A big goal was scored, and they did it as eBay searches surged. After Swanson scored the gold medal against Brazil, her eBay searches jumped 580% (compared to the previous week). The 2024 Topps Chrome Olympics cards (pictured below) with Smith and Swanson’s autographs attracted particular attention, with top sales prices of $628 and $700 on August 18, a week after the games. .
Several non-U.S. athletes, who also saw significant increases in search volume, reached the men’s tennis finals. After winning the gold medal, searches for Novak Djokovic were up 450% from the previous week, and searches for silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz were up 80%. They are two of the biggest names in an already popular sport, so the fact that the success of the Olympics can lead to a surge in searches is a testament to the new, wider audience the event brings. With the U.S. Open now underway, and the newly released Topps Chrome Tennis Set , we’ll have a chance to retain some of that interest.
The Olympics can also blur the already sometimes blurry line between sports and non-sports collectibles. Snoop Dogg’s customized Olympic badge went viral, causing eBay users around the world to search for “Snoop Dogg badge” nearly 140 times per hour between July 30 and 31. The 2028 Olympics will be held in his hometown of Los Angeles, and this may not be the last we hear of Snoop Dogg’s Olympic badge.
Coco Gauff has @SNoopDog #Olympics needle 🤩#paris2024 | #tennis pic.twitter.com/W6zRDFoeae
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 29, 2024
industry perspective
as Competitor Continuing to expand its collection coverage, we will include perspectives and observations from across the hobby. Since this is our first deep dive into eBay’s insights, we start with the executives overseeing its collectibles operations.
Interest in Snoopy pins and Olympic pins in general stems from the various collectibles that have become popular in recent years.
“Obviously, trading cards are a huge part of this, but what’s interesting is you see new categories emerge, and sometimes those things disappear again, and sometimes they disappear,” said Adam Ireland, vice president and general manager of global collectibles at eBay. continue to exist. Competitor during the National Sports Collectors Convention last month. He cited photos of sealed vintage electronics and Type 1s as examples.
“Someone once told me that’s the 25-year window, when you start getting nostalgic and people have money now and are spending it on things that take them back to the happy days of their childhood,” he added. Sales of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise have surged as it now appeals to an older generation, while new movies and TV series in the series have also attracted younger audiences.
Chad Ochocinco drew a large crowd to the National Theater’s eBay Live broadcast. (Photo courtesy of eBay)
Trading card games appeal to nostalgia and have piqued the interest of many. Ireland said he was “super bullish” on them. “Obviously, (Disney) Lorcana is another big push in the space, but Pokémon is still going strong and some of the more recent Magic releases have been very, very successful. … (Lolcana) and Disney collectible pins, a lot of historical artifacts, toys, vinyl records — there are so many categories (in the collectibles world), but you do find sports as a single thing being the biggest piece.
Ireland believes eBay’s recent acquisition of the Netflix series “The Goldin Touch,” about Goldin Auctions, will help expand interest in collectibles.
“It’s easy to think collectibles are a niche area, but they’re number four on the Netflix charts, which is only going to get more and more people into this hobby,” he said. “It’s amazing how many people I talk to who say, ‘Oh, my wife watched this show and now she understands why I get excited about this stuff.'” So, look at it from that perspective , I think it’s just going to open it up and make it more democratized.
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(Above: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
