When $1 million cards sell, we usually talk about the merits of the card, not the merits of the buyer.
Most of the time, the buyer doesn’t come forward.
But hours after the Paul Skenes rookie debut patch was purchased for $1.11 million, Dick's Sporting Goods announced Friday it had bought the coveted card.
Card people went wild. This is just another manifestation of a Fanatics monopoly.
Fanatics, they reasoned, got one of their biggest customers to buy the card to increase the value of what they are doing at Topps.
Garbage.
With this, Dick’s is planting its flag in the world of sports cards, signaling to collectors, investors and the industry at large it intends to be a serious player.
Hard-core collectors might not realize it, but Dick’s not only sells a ton of Fanatics licensed jerseys, the retailer sells thousands of boxes of baseball cards.
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In recent years, Dick’s has been on the ropes. The company relied on being a physical store for sporting goods items that need to be tried on. Consumers have gotten around this by just ordering excess items online, trying things on and returning them.
Dick’s needed credibility. It needed the consumer to say, "This physical store is better."
So, DSG redid all its stores and made its retail spaces more experiential. It built Houses of Sport with golf simulators, climbing walls and batting cages. This is how Dick's is going to achieve relevancy by doing things online stores can’t offer and to eventually drive purchase.
Dick’s executives said they would be building a new collectors’ space at its House of Sport store at Ross Park in suburban Pittsburgh, where the card would be displayed.
They are now taking their House of Sport play book to collectibles.
For years, collectibles have been a passion-driven market, dominated by niche retailers. Dick’s sells tons of baseball and football card boxes, but it’s an impulse buy at the register.
The Skenes card and the new displays in the stores will start to change things. It takes Dick’s from passive to aggressive. Not just in selling cards. But to get you in and make you feel more connected to the brand.
Welcome to the new era — where major brands use collectibles as a vehicle to drive engagement, traffic, and ultimately, revenue.
This move by Dick’s should be a wake-up call to other major brands. Collectibles aren’t just about nostalgia; they’re an incredibly effective demand-generation tool. They create scarcity, emotional connection, and cultural relevance — three of the most powerful drivers of modern consumer behavior.
Brands that understand this will win. Those that don’t will be left behind.
At cllct, we’ve built our business around helping brands navigate this space, tapping into the deep passions of collectors to create real value. The opportunity is massive, and this is just the beginning. If you’re a brand looking to understand how collectibles can drive demand for your business, let’s talk.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.