The Olympics is an event that can drive interest and popularity not just for a particular sport or individual athlete, but for a range of collectibles. The global nature of the Olympics, the way they cross-pollinate fans of different sports and attract very casual or even non-sports fans — it’s something that can drive demand enormously.
Take basketball for example: the men’s gold medal game between the US and France drew an average of 19.5 million viewers in the US alone, while the most recent NBA finals average 11.3 million viewersThe women’s gold medal match was won by 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 eyes can create a short, immediate surge of interest that quickly fizzles out, in some cases it can also lay the groundwork for long-term growth. It can be an introduction that creates new fans and collectors.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the 2024 Olympics, using insights from eBay:
Athletes (and rappers) who saw an increase in interest from collectors
The most searched for American basketball players on eBay during the Olympics were: LeBron James, Anthony Edwards And Steph Curry. James and Curry’s placements in that spot shouldn’t be surprising, given their status as legends of the game and the way they’ve delivered big moments for Team USA. But the fact that Edwards is being sought at that level on a marketplace (rather than a general interest platform like Google) is noteworthy.
The day Team USA defeated Serbia in the semifinals, Edwards’ ungraded 202o Panini Prizm silver card (a popular parallel in the most popular NBA set that has a slightly more favorable supply/demand balance than its abundant prizm base rookie card) has returned to the price point it reached at the start of the NBA Western Conference Finals in May (around $320), when it was among the best performers of the postseason to that point, up from the sub-$200 level it reached in late June/early July. Edwards failed to make a splash in the Olympic semifinals or finals, so there has been another drop, but the card remains higher than the lows it reached following its elimination from the NBA playoffs. However, it will need to take another step forward this season and perform better in key moments to further increase collector interest in it.
Steph Curry (left) and Anthony Edwards after receiving their gold medals. (Photo: DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)
For women, the most searched for Team USA players on eBay were: 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. Notably absent from that group is A’ja Wilsonwho was named the tournament MVP and is also the clear favorite to claim a third WNBA MVP trophy this season. There have always been players who far outperform the collectors’ interest in them, but this seems like a generational talent/all-time great is being severely undervalued.
However, the Olympic Games have given a boost to the popularity of women’s sportswear collections. Katie Ledecky Sales grew during the Olympics, reaching a new record of $4,037 for her 2024 Topps Chrome Ledecky Legacy signed superfractor (a unique parallel, pictured below). Two Simone Biles Cards sold for over $2,000 each. But perhaps most impressive was that two superfractors, a signature And one plasterfrom the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic Set Ilona Maherbronze medal-winning US rugby team star sold for $1,743 and $1,500 respectively – not all that different from sales of Biles, a more established star in a sport more popular in the US.
It’s always tricky to judge the long-term value of Olympic athletes in sports that don’t generate annual attention in the U.S. Ledecky and Biles could hold strong, as the former has won the most career Olympic gold medals among female athletes (nine) and the latter isn’t far behind (seven), and both have more of a cultural presence. Their legacies are set. But unless rugby experiences a dramatic surge in popularity, it seems difficult for Maher to have the same staying power. (That said, monetary value often isn’t the primary concern for collectors—especially if they never plan to sell a particular item—and waiting for more buyer-friendly circumstances when unique items become available is often not possible.)
The US women’s soccer team won gold, thanks in part to the trio Sophia Smit, Trinity Rodman And Mallory Swanson (or “Triple espressoas they have called themselves), who all scored big goals and all saw big eBay search results when they did. Searches for Swanson increased 580 percent on eBay (compared to the previous week) after she scored the gold medal-winning goal against Brazil. Cards from the 2024 Topps Chrome Olympic set that signatures of both Smith and Swanson (see photo below) attracted a lot of interest, with peak sales prices of $628 and $700 on August 18, a week after the tournament ended.
A couple of non-American athletes who also had big search peaks were the men’s tennis finalists. After he won the gold medal, the search was on for Novak Djokovic increased by 450 percent compared to the previous week and searches for 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 can generate an increase in market searches is a testament to the new, broader audience the event brings. Now that the US Open has begun and a newly released Topps Chrome tennis there will be an opportunity to retain some of that interest.
The Olympics can also blur the sometimes blurry lines between sports and non-sports collectibles. Snoop Dogg’s custom Olympic pins went viral, prompting eBay users worldwide to search for “Snoop Dogg pin“nearly 140 times per hour on July 30 and 31. And with the 2028 Olympics set to take place in his hometown of Los Angeles, this may not be the last we hear of Snoop Dogg’s Olympic pins.
Coco Gauff has the @SnoopDogg #Olympic Games pin 🤩#Paris2024 | #tennis photo.twitter.com/W6zRDFoeae
—ITFTennis (@ITFTennis) July 29, 2024
Industry visions
If The Athletics In order to continue expanding our coverage of collectibles, we will be including perspectives and observations from across the hobby. Since this is our first time diving into eBay insights, we’ll start with the executive who oversees their collectibles operation.
The interest in the Snoop pin and Olympic pins in general points to the variety of collectibles that have gained popularity in recent years.
“Obviously trading cards are a huge, huge part of the market, but the cool thing is you see new categories emerge and sometimes those things go away and sometimes they stick around,” said Adam Ireland, vice president and general manager of worldwide collectibles at eBay. The Athletics at the National Sports Collectors Convention last month. He mentioned sealed vintage electronics and Type 1 photos as examples.
“Someone once told me that there’s a 25-year window where you get nostalgic and that’s when people now have the money and they’re spending money on things that take them back to that happy childhood,” he added, saying that they Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Merchandise is catching on because it now appeals to the needs of older generations, while the franchise’s new films and series are also attracting a younger audience.
Chad Ochocinco draws a crowd to an eBay Live broadcast at The National. (Photo courtesy of eBay)
Trading card games, which can play on that nostalgia, are also generating a lot of interest. Ireland says he’s “super bullish” on it. “Of course (Disney) Lorcana has given that area a big boost, but Pokémon is still going strong. Some of the recent releases of Magic: The Gathering have been really, really successful. … (Lorcana) and Disney collectible pins“Lots of historical artifacts, toys, vinyl – there are just so many categories (in the collectibles world), but you see sports as one thing becoming the biggest piece.”
“King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch,” the Netflix series about Goldin Auctions, which was recently acquired by eBay, is something Ireland sees as a way to increase interest in collectibles.
“It’s easy to see collectibles as a niche area, but they’re number four on the Netflix charts and that’s just going to draw more and more people into the hobby,” he said. “It’s amazing how many people I’ve talked to who say, ‘Oh, my wife watched the show and now she understands why I get excited about this stuff.’ And so I think from that standpoint, it’s just going to open it up, it’s going to democratize it.”
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(Top photo: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
