The Athletic Launches Sports Card and Memorabilia Vertical

The sports publisher The Athletic launched a new vertical today covering the world of sports memorabilia and trading cards. It’s a market whose value is forecast to reach $227 billion by 2032, according to the consulting firm Market Decipher. 

The vertical is launching as part of a multiyear partnership with the commerce platform eBay, which in recent years has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into growing its collectibles and memorabilia business. 

As part of the agreement, relevant eBay trading cards, collectibles, and memorabilia will be shoppable throughout The Athletic. The publisher declined to share financial specifics. 

“For an entry-level collector, jumping into this space requires a lot of information,” said Sebastian Tomich, chief commercial officer at The Athletic. “We felt like this was an opportunity to take a massive platform like The Athletic and point it toward an interest that has a big but growing audience.”

The partnership will include a series of media campaigns to come later in August and branded content created exclusively for The Athletic by T Brand Studio, with on-platform creative promoted across the websites of both The Athletic and eBay.

The tie-up is the latest in a series of multiyear commitments The Athletic has brokered with strategic brand partners. The publisher, which is owned by The New York Times, has struck similar deals with BetMGM to power its sports gambling offerings and StubHub to power its ticketing business.

The deals have helped expedite the growth of its advertising business, which launched from scratch in September 2022. In 2023, The Athletic generated $28 million in advertising revenue, and through the first six months of 2024, it has brought in $12.8 million, according to earnings reports.  

The partnership also furthers The Times’ efforts to diversify its business away from traditional news and advertising. Through the arrangement, The Athletic will bring in advertising revenue, but it will also gain another source of affiliate revenue and, by tapping into a new readership, appeal to a new cohort of potential subscribers.

The resurgence of sports collectibles 

The business of sports memorabilia and trading cards has grown rapidly since the pandemic, which provided fans with ample time to reconnect with the nostalgic hobby, according to Brooks Peck, the senior editor for sports memorabilia and collectibles at The Athletic.

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