The Olympic Games are an event that can increase interest and popularity not only for a particular sport or individual athlete, but also for a range of collectibles. The global nature of the Olympic Games, the way they cross-pollinate fans from different sports and attract very casual or even non-sports fans – it’s something that could drive demand.
Take basketball for example: the men’s gold medal game between the US and France averaged 19.5 million viewers in the US alone, while the most recent NBA finals an average of 11.3 million viewers. The women’s gold medal match was a draw 7.8 million viewers in the US (at 9:30 a.m. ET), and last year’s WNBA Finals average 728,000. While that sudden influx of new eyeballs can cause a brief and immediate surge of interest that just as quickly fades, in some cases it can also provide the foundation for longer-term growth. It can be an introduction that creates new fans and collectors.
With that in mind, let’s look back at the 2024 Olympics with insights from eBay:
Athletes (and rappers) who saw a huge interest from collectors
The most searched for Team USA men’s basketball players on eBay during the Olympics were Le Bron James, Anthony Edwards And Steph Curry. James and Curry’s spots there shouldn’t be surprising given their status as legends of the game and how they came through in big moments for Team USA, but Edwards was wanted at that level within a marketplace (rather than just in a more general interest platform such as Google) is remarkable.
The day Team USA defeated Serbia in the semifinals, Edwards was not rated 202o Panini Prizm silver card (a popular parallel in the most popular NBA set that has a slightly more favorable supply-demand balance than his abundant Prizm base rookie card) returned to the price level it reached at the start of the NBA Western Conference Finals in May (approximately $320), when it had been one of the best performers of the postseason up to that point, an increase from the level from below $200 where it dropped to in late June/early July. Edwards didn’t have a standout performance in the semifinals or finals of the Olympic tournament, so there’s been another decline, but the chart remains higher than the lows he hit after his NBA playoff elimination. However, he will need to take another step forward this season and have better performances at key moments to further increase collectors’ interest in him.
Steph Curry (left) and Anthony Edwards after receiving their gold medals. (Photo: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)
On the women’s side, these were the most searched for Team USA players on eBay Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Diana TaurasiAnd Kelsey Plum. Taurasi did not play in the gold medal game and averaged just 1 ppg for the tournament, but she won her sixth gold medal – a new record for the sport. That is noticeably absent from that group Aja Wilsonwho was named tournament MVP and is also the clear favorite to claim a third WNBA MVP trophy this season. There have always been players who far outperformed collectors’ interest in them, but this seems like a generational talent/greatest of all time is seriously undervalued.
However, the Olympics provided a boost to women’s sports collectibles. Katie Ledecky sales grew during the Olympics, peaking with a new all-time record of $4,037 for its 2024 Topps Chrome Ledecky Legacy signed superfractor (a unique parallel, pictured below). Two Simone Biles cards sold for more than $2,000 each. But perhaps most impressive was that two superfractors, one signature And one patchfrom the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic set Ilona Maherstar of the US rugby bronze-winning team, sold for $1,743 and $1,500 respectively – not far off the sales of Biles, a more established star in a sport more popular in the US
Assessing the long-term value of Olympic athletes in sports that don’t receive annual attention in the U.S. is always difficult. Ledecky and Biles could remain strong, as the former is tied for the most Olympic gold medals among female athletes (nine) and the latter is not far behind (seven) and both have more of a cultural presence. Their legacies are recorded. But unless rugby experiences a dramatic rise in popularity, it seems difficult for Maher to have the same staying power. (That said, monetary value is often not the primary concern for collectors – especially if they never plan to sell a particular item – and waiting for more buyer-friendly terms when unique items become available is often not possible.)
The US women’s soccer team won gold thanks in part to the trio Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman And Mallory Swanson (or “Triple espresso”, as they call themselves), all of whom scored big goals and all saw big search spikes on eBay when they did so. Searches for Swanson jumped 580 percent on eBay (compared to the previous week) after she scored the gold medal against Brazil. Cards from the Topps Chrome Olympic 2024 set with an image signatures of both Smith and Swanson (pictured below) have attracted particular interest, with peak retail prices of $628 and $700 on August 18, a week after the tournament closed.
A couple of non-US athletes who also had big search spikes were the men’s tennis finalists. After winning the gold medal, he searches for Novak Djokovic increased by 450 percent compared to the previous week and the number of searches for a silver medalist Carlos Alcaraz increased by 80 percent. These are two of the biggest names in an already popular sport, so the fact that Olympic success could create a surge in market searches is a testament to the new, broader audience the event brings. With the US Open underway and a newly released one Topps Chrome Tennis there will be an opportunity to retain some of that interest.
The Olympics can also blur the already sometimes blurred boundaries between sports and non-sports collectibles. Snoop Dogg’s custom Olympic pins went viral, prompting global eBay users to search for ‘Snoop Dogg pinalmost 140 times per hour on July 30 and 31. And with the 2028 Olympics taking place in his hometown of Los Angeles, this might not be the last we hear about Snoop Dogg’s Olympic pins.
Coco Gauff has the @SnoopDogg #Olympics pin 🤩#Paris2024 | #tennis pic.twitter.com/W6zRDFoeae
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 29, 2024
Industry views
If The Athletics To further expand collectibles coverage, we will include perspectives and observations from across the hobby. Since this is our first dive into eBay’s insights, we’ll start with the director who oversees the collectibles business.
The interest in the Snoop pin and Olympic pins in general highlights the variety of collectibles that have gained popularity in recent years.
“Obviously trading cards are a huge part of it, but the cool thing is you see new categories emerge and sometimes those things go away and sometimes they stick around,” Adam Ireland, vice president and general manager of Global, told me. Collectibles from eBay. The Athletics during the National Sports Collectors Convention last month. He quoted sealed vintage electronics and Type 1 photos as examples.
“Someone once told me that it’s kind of like 25 years when you start to feel nostalgia and that’s the point where people now have the money and are spending it on things that take them back to those happy childhood days,” he added. that they see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise is booming because it now fits into that window for older generations, while the franchise’s new films and shows are also attracting younger audiences.
Chad Ochocinco draws crowds to an eBay Live broadcast at The National. (Photo courtesy of eBay)
Trading card games, which can tap into the appeal of nostalgia, are also generating a lot of interest. Ireland says he is “super bullish” on them. “It’s clear (Disney) Lorcana has been another big boost in that area, but you still have Pokemon that are strong, some of the recent Magic: The Gathering releases have been really successful. … (Lorcana) and Disney collectible pinsa lot of historical artifacts, toys, vinyl – there are just so many categories (in the collecting space), but you do notice that sports as one thing becomes the biggest piece.
“King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch,” the Netflix series about Goldin Auctions, which eBay recently acquired, is something Ireland sees as a way to increase interest in collectibles.
“It’s easy to think of collectibles as a niche area, but they’re at number four on the Netflix charts and that’s only going to get more and more people into the hobby,” he said. “It’s amazing how many people I’ve talked to and they’re like, ‘Oh, my wife saw the show and now she understands why I get excited about this stuff.’ And so from that perspective, I think it will just open things up, democratize it more.”
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(Top photo: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)