Sports trading cards have been around since the late 19th century, with the earliest known baseball cards produced in the late 1880s. It wasn’t until the late 1980s and 1990s that collecting sports cards really took off in popularity. During this boom period, new sports like football and basketball joined baseball as major sports card franchises.
While baseball remains the most heavily collected sport in terms of vintage and modern cards, football and basketball have grown tremendously. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, annual spending on sports cards and memorabilia in the U.S. is over $800 million. Baseball leads the way, but football and basketball combine to make up over a third of total sports card sales.
Let’s take a deeper look at the history and markets for these three major sports card categories:
Baseball Cards
As previously mentioned, baseball cards date all the way back to the late 1800s. The original cards were included as promotional inserts in cigarettes and gave basic stats and information about players. The T206 Honus Wagner card from 1909-11 is considered the “Mona Lisa” of baseball cards due to its rarity, with only 50-100 known to exist in mint condition.
In the post-World War II era of the 1950s, new technologies like color printing led to more visually appealing designs on cards like Topps and Bowman. Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays rookie cards from 1952 are extremely valuable today. The 1970s saw a lull, but the 1980s marked a resurgence led by the arrival of Upper Deck, Score, and other competitors to Topps. Ken Griffey Jr’s Upper Deck rookie card from 1989 is one of the most valuable modern baseball cards ever printed.
Today, vintage cards from the pre-war era through the 1950s are highly sought after by collectors and can sell for six or even seven figures depending on condition and player. Rookie cards of stars continue to gain value as well. Modern sets still focus on Topps as the industry leader, but Donruss, Leaf, and Panini also produce competitive baseball card products.
Football Cards
Football cards lagged behind baseball for many years, with the sport not achieving the same mainstream popularity and fan following. Some early football cards were produced in the 1930s and 1940s, but sets remained sparse through the 1950s. The 1960s saw the arrival of the first true football card sets by Topps.
In the late 1980s, as the NFL surpassed baseball as the highest-rated televised sport, football cards began to take off. Top players like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Barry Sanders had best-selling rookie cards. It was the arrival of Score and Fleer challenging Topps’ monopoly that truly grew the market. Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, and other stars had valuable rookie issues in the early 1990s that are highly sought today.
Modern football cards remain one of the strongest categories. Popular sets include Panini Prizm, Panini National Treasures, and Topps Chrome. Rookie cards of first-round draft picks like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, and Ja’Marr Chase sell out instantly and gain value quickly. For vintage, rare rookie cards of legends like Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, and Joe Namath can sell for over $100,000 in top condition.
Basketball Cards
Basketball cards lagged even further behind the other major sports early on. The sport struggled for mainstream attention for decades. A few rudimentary sets were released in the 1950s-60s by Topps, but designs were basic.
Things began changing in the late 1970s. As the NBA gained popularity led by stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, card manufacturers took notice. Topps released the first major modern basketball set in 1981 that included rookie cards of Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre. Fleer debuted in 1982/83 with the first Michael Jordan rookie card that is among the most coveted in any sport today.
In the 1980s and 1990s, basketball cards truly exploded as icons like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and later Kobe Bryant captured mainstream attention. Sets from Fleer, Upper Deck, Skybox and others featured stunning photography and insert cards. Rookie cards of Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, LeBron James and more all gained immense value.
Today, the NBA has never been more popular globally. Modern basketball cards are a huge business led by brands like Panini, Leaf and Prizm. Parallels, autographs and rare memorabilia cards of Giannis, Luka Doncic and others sell for thousands. Vintage rookie cards of legends regularly break records, with a mint Jordan 1986 Fleer selling for over $400,000.
While baseball cards started the modern sports card craze, collections of football and basketball cards have grown tremendously. Vintage rookie cards remain the most coveted investments, while modern parallels and memorabilia cards attract speculation. With the continued growth of the NFL and NBA, trading cards in all three sports remain a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. Knowledgeable collectors continue to drive demand and prices to new heights across these classic sports card categories.
