Caitlin Clark fuels women's memorabilia market growth

Caitlin Clark has made a vocation retired of breaking records: all-time NCAA Division I men's and women's scoring leader, astir points and assists made by a rookie successful WNBA history, archetypal triple-double by a rookie successful WNBA history.

And this year, successful 2 abstracted auctions, Clark's trading cards acceptable caller merchantability records for women's sports cards, the archetypal selling for $366,000 successful March, the 2nd for $660,000 conscionable 4 months later.

Sports collectibles manufacture experts accidental involvement successful the Indiana Fever star's cards is starring to immoderate maturation successful the women's memorabilia marketplace overall, peculiarly for hoops players.

"It's gone from thing to a meaningful amount," said Ryan Hoge, president of paper and collectibles grader Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), adding that the appetite for women's sports cards extracurricular of Serena Williams and Mia Hamm hardly existed 3 oregon 4 years ago. "Relative to each the different cards we see, it's inactive small, but it's got to commencement determination -- and the maturation rates are outpacing a batch of different categories."

Over the past respective years, Clark's popularity has propelled wide involvement successful women's sports. The 2025 and 2024 WNBA regular seasons some were the astir watched ever -- contempt Clark playing successful conscionable 13 games this twelvemonth due to the fact that of injury. Women's nonrecreational hoops and shot teams are commanding grounds enlargement fees and valuations, and some nonrecreational and assemblage athletes are signing millions of dollars' worthy of endorsement deals.

While the worth of Clark's memorabilia mightiness beryllium an anomaly, manufacture experts accidental they're seeing signs that collectors are looking to participate the marketplace for different women's hoops players.

One motion of the market's aboriginal maturation is the summation successful cards submitted for grading, a awesome that collectors are looking to terms their items with the volition to sell. From January to September of 2024, PSA graded 58,000 WNBA cards, according to information provided by the company. During the aforesaid clip successful 2025, PSA has graded astir 3 times that amount, astir 159,000.

Hoge said a pistillate jock had ne'er shown up successful the apical 50 of athletes' cards graded crossed each sports, but Clark present is successful the apical 10. Clark is besides PSA's second-most-graded hoops subordinate wide this year, 2nd lone to Michael Jordan. The institution is besides grading much cards of Dallas Wings defender and 2025 archetypal wide WNBA draught prime Paige Bueckers, Chicago Sky guardant Angel Reese, USC defender JuJu Watkins and Los Angeles Sparks guardant Cameron Brink, Hoge said.

"It's staggering, and [Clark has] this pull-forward effect for different WNBA players. We're seeing involvement successful women's shot cards, so, it's a thing," Hoge said. "If she's the Michael Jordan, radical are going to privation to cod the Charles Barkleys, the Scottie Pippens, the Hakeem Olajuwons."

In 2025 truthful far, astir 11,200 Bueckers cards and 9,300 Reese cards person been submitted to PSA for grading, much than triple the magnitude for either prima past year. Similarly, the institution has received astir 5,600 Watkins cards successful 2025, much than treble the magnitude successful 2024. PSA besides has received astir 11,900 Brink cards successful 2025, 10 times the magnitude from past year.

Ron Jaiven, wide manager of U.S. collectibles astatine eBay, said helium has seen a "remarkable" summation successful WNBA cards sold connected the level -- and not conscionable due to the fact that of Clark. (eBay declined to supply information astir the fig of cards sold implicit the past year.)

"We're seeing unthinkable increases this twelvemonth adjacent versus 2024," Jaiven said. "Caitlin Clark is surely the biggest, but we're seeing searches and income for modern, adjacent accepted players similar Candace Parker and Sue Bird rookie cards."

Javien said that 3 of the 4 astir searched assemblage athletes connected eBay during the past NCAA hoops play were women -- Bueckers, Watkins and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, each trailing lone then-Duke prima Cooper Flagg.

According to information compiled by Card Ladder, which tracks trading paper sales, determination person been 13 income of Bueckers cards for astatine slightest $10,000 since April 1. Two Reese paper income person topped $30,000 since July 24, and, 5 days aft Watkins tore her ACL successful the NCAA tournament, a collector paid much than $40,000 connected a 1-of-1 numbered, autographed Watkins SuperFractor.

Also this summer, collectors bought 1-of-1 numbered 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Black Finite and 2024 Panini Royalty WNBA Kaboom! Green Cameron Brink rookie cards for $...