The sports collectible market took a hit in 2023, according to a report by Altan Insights, a company that analyzes sales in various collectible markets. The report, based on data from Card Ladder, showed a downward trend that started about 18 months prior and continued throughout the year.
Sales for ultra-modern cards, which include cards issued from 2009 to the present, plummeted by 34.8% compared to the previous year. Modern cards, defined as those from 1984 to 2008, also saw a decrease in sales, dropping by 30.8%. While vintage cards also experienced a decline in overall sales, they performed relatively better than their modern and ultra-modern counterparts.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, vintage and pre-war cards outperformed modern and ultra-modern cards, further widening their advantage in the collectible market for the year, as highlighted in the Altan report.
The report points out that football, soccer, racing, and basketball cards were the segments that saw the most significant price declines. Football cards, particularly high-end cards of quarterbacks, both young and veteran, failed to regain their value, and the situation was worsened by injuries to popular quarterbacks in the latter half of the season.
Altan also noted a considerable dip in the top 50 sales at most auction houses from 2022 to 2023. Interestingly, the decline was less pronounced in the next tier of sales, indicating a slightly stronger demand in the mid-range market segment.
Key findings from the comprehensive 41-page report on the fourth quarter and the year 2023 as a whole include:
1. A 40% year-over-year and 27% quarter-over-quarter drop in the number of six-figure auction sales in Q4, marking the lowest total in the past three years.
2. In 2023, there were eleven recorded sales of baseball items exceeding $1 million, with eight involving cards or memorabilia of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, spread across five different auction houses.
3. In a stark contrast to 2022, where there were twelve seven-figure basketball card sales, 2023 saw none. The demand for modern patch cards at high price points disappeared and did not return throughout the year.
4. The list of top-selling cards of currently active basketball players on eBay in the last four months of 2023 featured LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
5. The market for LeBron James and Steph Curry cards across all platforms dipped by over 40% last year, while Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant cards remained relatively stable.
Notably, Jordan cards from the late 1990s accounted for five of the top ten Jordan card sales in the fourth quarter, including three of the top five.
While the market for game-worn and game-used memorabilia showed only modest growth from the previous year, the top 25 and top 50 sales in this category in 2023 were more than double the levels achieved in 2021.
The Altan Insights report paints a comprehensive picture of the shifting dynamics in the sports collectible market, showcasing the fluctuations in different segments and the changing interests of collectors and investors in this domain. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these trends develop in the coming years.
