One of my favourite stories in sports business has surprisingly little to do with the NFL itself. Years ago, Uli Hoeneß travelled to the United States because Bayern Munich was financially trying to reinvent itself. German soccer still thought primarily about football. The Americans were already thinking about entertainment, merchandising, stadiums and everything happening before … Read more
One thing I keep coming back to is what actually happens after a player’s career is over. We spend so much time talking about Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Munetaka Murakami or the next rookie that we almost forget the hobby has already answered this question several times. Retirement is almost like a second draft. Suddenly … Read more
The Japan hype in MLB cards is real, although I would not say Shohei Ohtani created it from nothing. That would be too easy. Ichiro was already there. Hideki Matsui was already there. Japanese baseball had already sent serious stars to the United States long before Ohtani became the face of the modern hobby. But … Read more
Over the past few weeks I became curious about digital card breaking platforms. Courtyard.io is probably the best-known example at the moment, although there are other providers such as Arena Club and Vault-style marketplaces that follow similar ideas. The concept is simple enough. You buy a digital pack containing sports cards, whether baseball, basketball, football … Read more
Exclusive autograph deals with names like LeBron James and Shohei Ohtani have changed the feeling around modern sports card products. Not everything, of course. You can still collect cheap cards. You can still build sets, collect teams, buy vintage, search dollar boxes, chase weird inserts, whatever. The hobby is still big enough for all of … Read more
We’ve never seen this much top 100 prospect talent on Opening Day rosters before, and for baseball card collectors, that’s a very good thing. The 2026 MLB season is shaping up to be a true collision of prospect hype, real performance, and rookie card releases. You don’t need to be deep in the prospect weeds … Read more