10 Predictions for the Next 10 Years

There’s been a ton of “the market’s on fire!” type posts across the hobby, so I’ve been thinking about where this is all going.

Here’s what I’m seeing—let me know if you disagree or have other predictions yourself!

1. The Hobby Will 5x - 10x

This isn’t new or insightful, but I have to start here. We’re already seeing the insane growth, like the chart I shared last week showing online sales by month:

Then there’s Research and Markets predicting a 19% growth rate for at least for the next 5 years.

Market Decipher predicts the global sports card & memorabilia market will grow from $33.6 billion in 2024 to $271.2 billion in 2035 (That’s 8x!).

It seems safe to say the growth we’ve seen is just the start.

2. Collector’s Universe / eBay / Fanatics Dominate

Have you seen that episode of Parks & Rec where they look into the future and there are only 8 companies left?

We’re already seeing this. Collector’s Universe (parent company of PSA) already owns SGC. Goldin is owned by eBay. Fanatics is branching out into all parts of the hobby.

But, I think we’re going to come to a point where these companies have such an advantage with their entrenchment in the hobby and massive resources that the barrier to entry for competition is going to be tough. I think they’ll continue to expand until each of them can essentially offer all hobby-relevant services.

In fact, it wouldn’t even surprise me if eBay or Fanatics bought Collector’s Universe and we’re left with two.

3. AI Grading is Coming

I mean, what isn’t AI going to affect? PSA already uses AI to assist human graders, but I think in the next few years, we’ll get a full AI process.

The benefits are too good to pass up:

• No subjectivity - We’ll know definitively that a card deserved a 9.

• Faster turnaround - Fewer humans in the process will speed things up.

• Audit trails - AI can spit out an instant written justification for the grade.

• Pre-grade - Some are already using ChatGPT to pre-grade cards themselves, but PSA could do that too. What if you could use their portal to load up high-res images of your card, and they estimate the grade on the spot?

4. On-Demand Printing Will Grow

We have Topps Now, but that still seems to only gather attention from a small piece of the market. However, it’s too cool an idea to remain such a small piece of the hobby.

Remember the the 2024 Olympics? There were cards printed within weeks. The LeBron, KD, Steph triple auto became a massive chase in the hobby.

What if your favorite team wins the championship? With the help of AI, perhaps they could release those right away, but also include #’d parallels. I’d also want to see redemptions for autos, jersey cards, and floors!

5. Vintage Will Gain the Most Value

If the hobby is going to 10x, card companies are going to print more to keep up with demand.

(No, that doesn’t mean we’ll have Junk Wax 2.0 because there will be demand for it)

But, they’re not printing any more rookies of Jim Brown, Kareem, or Willie Mays. If we have 10x the people in the hobby for the same number of cards… well, simple supply & demand tells us those cards will skyrocket.

6. We Never Stop Falling for Modern Hype

I was tempted to say that we’ll all get smarter and stop falling for ultra-modern cards being massively overpriced (especially right after release), but….

As this hobby grows at the same insane pace, there will always be new people who don’t understand that you shouldn’t buy the first PSA 10 to hit the market!

Also, there will always be people with money who don’t care and just want one right away!

7. Less Popular Sports (in America) Grow Massively

The hobby’s more international than ever. Fanatics has a store in London. eBay makes it easier to ship overseas.

So while baseball, basketball, and football will all grow internationally, I suspect the same will happen for less popular sports!

As the hobby grows in Canada, hockey cards will continue to grow.

Soccer, cricket, rugby, and others will grow as the hobby penetrates markets where those sports massively outshine American sports.

8. Athlete Direct Releases

With the rise of newsletters (guilty!), an athlete might choose to forego signing a contract with Fanatics in favor of managing their own brand.

I see this as mostly happening with college athletes or retired legends, as most of them likely get paid less for their autos than active stars.

Look at someone like Kareem. He has a massively popular newsletter. What if he decided to sell a limited edition autographed photo of his signature skyhook? He could control distribution, charge what he wants, and in theory, have no cap on what he can earn.

9. PSA 10s Become Harder to Hit

This could happen as a byproduct of shifting to AI grading, which may naturally tighten up standards.

But, I also think we’re just seeing too many 10s. When we have 25k PSA 10s on some cards, that’s creating the “10 or Nothing” mindset. Imagine if the hobby gets 4x larger, and print runs increase accordingly, and we have a card reach 100k PSA 10s.

I want 10s to be rarer, so hopefully 9s can mean something again (talking ultra-modern, of course).

Many have reported that gem rates have fallen this year, so it may already be happening. I’m predicting that it continues. IMO 10s should be very rare.

10. High-End Cards Go Bonkers

This is more of a continuing trend, but I think we’re in its infancy.

More and more people are turning to cards as an alternative asset. They’re allocating percentages of their portfolio.

Rich people (like Kevin O’Leary, who spent $13 million on the Kobe/Jordan Logoman) are choosing to spend millions on top cards.

Here’s why it makes sense:

• He got tons of press coverage from it.

• He gets the ego boost of owning the most expensive card ever.

• He gets to own something really cool.

• It has a decent chance to only increase in value.

• It’s a small percentage of his total net worth, so the risk is minimal.

More and more rich people will jump in, and I think we will continue to see the ceiling blown off on these top-of-the-market cards.

Buy/Sell Targets - NFL Week 1 Edition!

This doesn’t constitute investment advice, more just a window into my overall strategy as well as for entertainment purposes. All pricing and screenshots are taken from Card Ladder—the only pricing & inventory tool I use.

✔ Lamar Jackson 🏈 - If you can get him at any sort of discount, I’d be all in! He puts up numbers in the regular season unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Below is his Donruss PSA 10 rookie. It’s regularly hit $170 - $180 over the past 6 months, but there are some sales lately for under $120. It might be hard to find at that price, but it’s a steal.

✔ Justin Fields 🏈 - His base Prizms didn’t see a spike, even though he had one of the best performances of week 1. I don’t buy a star-level future here, but he’s young enough, on a new team, and his PSA 10s are just $20. He plays some defense-challenged teams coming up soon, so he could have some big days.

✔ Keon Coleman 🏈 - He’s the 2nd year WR for the Bills who crushed it on Sunday! He had an injury-marred rookie season, but with Josh Allen passing, there’s plenty of yardage to go around. You can grab Silver Prizms for $5-$8. Worth a flyer.

❌ Daniel Jones 🏈 - He may seem like a universal sell-off target, but it’s also possible some people will see him as a “young guy who just needed a change of scenery.” Even with the spike after his win, he’s valued so much lower than most starting QBs. I’m still on the “sell immediately” team because he has a track record of playing poorly and the Colts are still projected to be a bottom-5 team. They just happened to play an even worse team.

Quick Hits

News From Around the Hobby

+ What the NFT? - “Following a Week 1 victory over the Miami Dolphins, a collector bought a Daniel Jones NFT for $10,000.” Apparently, a Caitlin Clark NFT just sold for $175k as well. So…they’re back?

+ Top 25 Baseball Rookies - I know I don’t talk quite enough baseball… but Cardlines has a great article about the top players with rookies in 2025 product.

+ Grand Theft…Baseball Card? - “San Marcos suspect allegedly stole $4,500 in merch.” You know, I’ve never seen one of those sports card vending machines before. They can’t just drop packs to the bottom and ding corners, can they?

The Ultimate Playbook to Make Money Selling Sports Cards

This is perhaps the single most important post on this site if you’re in this hobby to make money! I’m going to put it all together in this one post so that you’ll never have to read anything else.

When you’re finished, you’ll have my complete guide to making money with sports cards. You’ll know exactly how to profit. [Keep Reading…]

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