What Are The Top Questions For The Sports Card Market Heading Into 2022?

There is an ominous feeling within the sports card industry for 2022. Collectors are likely looking at the last full year of Topps branded major league baseball cards, as its MLBPA license expires at year's end. With the window potentially closing on Topps' MLB legacy (unless there is a Fanatics merger), we looked at three pressing questions for my Forbes Sports Money column that fans and collectors are looking for answers to in 2022.

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How One Baseball Card Company Is Proving It Can Survive Without An MLB License

 

Shohei Ohtani / 2021 Onyx Vintage Extended

The baseball card collecting world was turned upside down when both MLB and the MLBPA announced they would not renew Topps' licensing deals. This was a tremendous blow to Topps, as it foiled its merger deal with Mudrick Capital just one day after the announcement was made. 

Fanatics will get the MLPBA license starting in 2023 and the MLB license in 2026. The MLBPA license will allow Fanatics to use the entire active MLB roster on its trading cards, while the forthcoming MLB license will give them use of the coveted team logos. 

Onyx Authenticated, a small trading card company from Orlando has been producing trading cards without either license for nearly a decade, specializing in top tier minor league players. Speaking with Onyx's president Lance Fischer for my Forbes Sports Money column, click here to read what he shared their vision for the hobby's future will look like and their playbook for success in the interim. 

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