Ryan Barone (@ballcardgenius, Card Expert) is a lifelong member of the hobby. He has been quoted in PSA Magazine, and his content has regularly been mentioned in “Quick Rips” (the Topps RIPPED Newsletter) and across other hobby publications. hello@ballcardgenius.com; Last Time Ago LLC dba Ballcard Genius.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As I am a part of the eBay Partner Network and other programs, if you follow these links and make a purchase, I’ll receive commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
You can watch them nightly – either live or on-demand – and can interact with their handles on your social media platform of choice, but athletes are more accessible than ever thanks to companies like Fan Arch and the lucrative movement of professional branding (where sports stars are leveraging their name, image, and likeness like never before).
With a mission of providing past, present, and future athletes the means to create and capitalize on their own individual market, Fan Arch is connecting players with their admirers through branded merchandise stores, video shoutouts, and more.
Now, as someone who has collected baseball cards his entire life, it’s not hard to see why this idea is resonating among sports fans and hobby members like me.
I mean, if simply holding an autographed piece of cardboard can elevate my own personal fandom and interest in a player, I can only imagine what it would feel like to receive a personalized message from someone like Byron Buxton, Chris Sale, or Benny Montgomery.
Even more, while a video can’t exactly be worn on a sleeve for everyone to see, a logo, name, and artistic rendering can be. So in addition to shout outs, Fan Arch is opening the door for fans to go from, say, only being able to purchase and wear a Boston Red Sox sweatshirt, to also sporting a Corey Kluber “Ace” hoodie or a Dane Dunning logo’d hat.
Again, I can’t help but think about how sports cards were once simple collectibles, featuring basic athlete stats and photos. Yet, over time, have evolved into cherished items that are full of market and personal value. I mean these days, we have all of these other “data points” that make cards so much more than just cards. They are assets and tangible moments we might not ever forget (and are eager to share).
Read More: Hottest Sports Cards
This evolution mirrors the journey of athlete branding. In the past, an athlete’s public image was often flat and without depth; shaped by sports commentators and limited media portrayals.
Today, platforms like Fan Arch have empowered athletes to take control of their personal brand, offering fans a more intimate and multidimensional view of their favorite sports stars.
And hey, let’s dream a little. Can the trend of athlete personal branding might also have a significant impact on the sports card market?
Just as the performance of an athlete can increase the value of their trading cards, is it out of the question to think that their personal brand’s strength and popularity could become a new factor in determining a card’s worth?
It raises an intriguing question for collectors: how will this new dimension of personal branding influence the future market value of sports cards?
For now, let’s enjoy what we know: The more that athletes have the opportunity to build their own brand, the more athletes that will in fact be building their brand. Doing so lets them earn from the status they’ve worked their entire lives to create, while giving fans access to their name, image, and likeness in ways they’ve never experienced before.
