Ken Goldin: Modern Sports Cards Business Is Oversaturated, Fanatics Will Need To Step Up

OutKick's Mike Gunz Gunzelman recently had the opportunity to speak with Ken Goldin, CEO of Goldin Auctions to get his opinion on the memorabilia market. Goldin is also the star of the new Netflix show called "King Of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch," which shows all the behind the scenes drama and excitement that comes with acquiring and trading rare sports memorabilia.

There's no question that the sports memorabilia world has absolutely exploded in recent years. Whether it was everyone going through their old stuff during the pandemic and finding some gems, or being bored that they wanted a new hobby; more people are buying, collecting and trading than ever before.

One of the biggest growths in memorabilia has been the sports trading card industry, which was valued at $637 million globally last year.

However, as with all successful industries and products, once something becomes a hit it gets exploited and at times even oversaturated. With an unsure economic time in the country right now, I asked Ken Goldin from Goldin Marketplace what his outlook is regarding the sports card business and if he sees any troubled times ahead.

"I think modern cards got way ahead of themselves. The base cards went up too much, the limited edition cards went up too much... there's too many egos" Goldin responded when I asked if the average person is getting priced out from getting good collectible cards.

"I do think that the modern card market has a long way to go to get back to where it was in 2019 in terms of how quickly things sell," Goldin continued.

"So I think realistically you have a two-year clean up period to retake some of the glut of the market, reduce the number of issues and reduce the production."

HOT SEAT: PANINI

Goldin believes it's a variety of factors that are contributing to the unsure times in the sports card industry but one of the main culprits is Panini. The longtime card company's time is running out after they were acquired by Fanatics, and they're essentially having a fire sale of anything and everything - which is only adding to too much product.

"It's a horrible time to make trading cards because Panini is on a death-watch. They know what day they are going to die so there is absolutely nothing holding them back from producing as much product as they possibly can to make every kind of possibility of product."

As a result, Goldin believes the sports card industry is going to continue experiencing "choppy water" until the end of next year, or until Fanatics steps up and makes necessary changes - even if it's not as profitable in the short term.

HELP US FANATICS YOU'RE OUR ONLY HOPE

It's no shocker that Fanatics wanted to get involved in sports memorabilia and trading cards. Fanatics... is... everywhere and only going to become more of a juggernaut in the coming years.

Goldin believes that if Fanatics does the right thing they can revive the trading card industry and bring in lost customers as well as help transition it for decades ahead. But they have to do it correctly.

"Fanatics at least has enough financial backing where they can literally say "Okay fine, let's say it's 2024. 2024 is our first year of NBA and NFL . We're going to do it right. We're going to short print everything. We're going to make sure everything sells out and we are going to intentionally take money off the table for the first two years to build everyone's confidence back to make sure this is really collectible."

Ken Goldin with Peyton Manning. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Wheelhouse)

Although modern sports cards may have a rough patch ahead, Goldin says vintage cards are always popular and go up and down accordingly.

But if you're worried about or don't want to wait around for the trading card industry, Ken has the solution for you: Memorabilia. He says that it's still in the beginning stages and will be here for the long term.

Make sure to watch Netflix's The King of Collectibles: Goldin Touch available now!

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