I caught the the sports card collector bug recently! But just as I started gaining momentum with collecting, we’ve all been hit by the Coronavirus bug. The world of sport has been rocked by cancellations and suspensions of leagues, and the Chicago Sports Spectacular – a two day sports card show – was canceled. 

“If we have a recession tomorrow and another “2008” happens, the first thing that will “go” will be sports cards”

With the world economy expecting to be crippled, here’s what the future of sports card collecting might look like, and its not all bad news.

1. The Coronavirus card crumble

Gary Vaynerchuk wrote a piece on why he believed sports cards were going to explode in value, but it came with a stark warning.“If we have a recession tomorrow and another “2008” happens, the first thing that will “go” will be sports cards”, Vaynerchuck says.That ‘recession’ looks to be the Coronavirus pandemic. As the world economy looks set to crumble, the sports cards market would likely plummet in the near future.The stock markets have already begun to buckle and real estate is likely to follow. 

2. A form of sports betting.

Gary Vee put it best, “people are going to find cards worth tens of thousands of dollars in a $6 pack”.“It’s similar to lottery tickets. It gives people a shot at finding, say, a $50,000 Zion card in a cheap pack”.Just like highly sort after cards go up and down based on supply and demand, so does the general sports card market.The sports card market is also exposed to some of the same risks of the stock market and shares similar ebbs and flows.We all knew it was a form of gambling when getting into sports card collecting but like all markets, they’ll rebound and some point in time which leaves us with opportunities. 

3. Great time for opportunists. 

If the bubble bursts, its a great opportunity for people like me who just got into sport card collecting to purchase some more cards at a great price.  The great tool for collectors and opportunists will be online price guides to compare cards and research just how much they may have dropped.I bought a 2017 Panini Dominion Rookie Quad Signatures card for $150 AUD ($100 USD), signed by De’Aaron Fox, Frank Ntilikina, Jonathan Isaac and Lauri Markkanen and numbered 4/5.I can check out sales charts for identical cards and check whether its value has climbed or dropped at priceguide.cards. Probably not the best example as there are only four other examples in the world but you get the point.  

4. Remember why you’re collecting.

Lets be real, collecting sports cards is hella fun. Nothing beats the anticipation and excitement of getting a new card of your favorite player.If you’re collecting as a hobby, you wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much fun in the property market or the stock market than opening boxes and packs hoping to see Zion’s flex.With my Panini Dominion Rookie Quad Signatures card, I’ve now got a crazy interest on keeping track of Sacramento games and monitoring how Fox went.I’m also rooting for the Bulls, Magic and Knicks hoping they win every night, and I’m a freakin’ Wizards fan!If the market does crash and burn, there’s an ultimate silver lining.It gives us all an opportunity to dollar-cost average (DCA) cards as a long term investment strategy.And what’s better than getting even more cards?! 

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►About Me
I'm just a 30-something year old who loves sports, but I ain’t flexin’. I’m a completely amateur sports writer ‘journalist’ inspired by US and UK sports covering basketball, soccer, American football and more. I’m not a pretender, it’s a hobby and if I sound like I’m half street half corporate talk that’s my holistic approach. Peace bro.