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Collect-A-Con Sale Signals Big Money Is Investing in the Future of the Hobby

Collect-A-Con’s acquisition by Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro signals rising investment in trading cards, TCGs, and live collectibles events.
Lucas Mast|
Collect-A-Con blends sports cards, TCGs, and pop culture into a fast-growing national event.
Collect-A-Con blends sports cards, TCGs, and pop culture into a fast-growing national event. | https://collectaconusa.com/

In another sign that trading cards and TCG culture have moved well beyond niche status, Collect-A-Con has been acquired by a group led by sports and entertainment heavyweights Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, CEO and President of TKO Group Holdings, the publicly traded company behind UFC and WWE.

The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but the message is clear. For a hobby that spent decades tucked into hotel ballrooms and convention halls, the idea that two of the most powerful executives in sports and Hollywood are now investing in a card show says as much as any sales comp ever could.

Mark Shapiro and Ari Emanuel, President and CEO of TKO Group Holdings
Mark Shapiro and Ari Emanuel, President and CEO of TKO Group Holdings | Wrestling Observer

More Than a Card Show

Collect-A-Con has never really operated like a traditional show. With stops in cities like Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Orlando, Collect-A-Con has grown into a multi-city platform that consistently draws large, engaged crowds.

Yes, trading cards and TCGs sit at the center, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Lorcana, but the experience feels closer to a hybrid of Comic Con and a live event. Celebrity signers, anime voice actors, cosplay, concerts, and exclusive drops all blur the line between collecting and culture.

That matters for one reason: the audience.

Organizers consistently draw a younger demographic, largely in the 18–34 range. The same group driving much of the hobby’s modern growth and the exact audience live entertainment companies are built to monetize. For investors, Collect-A-Con isn’t just a show; it’s a platform built around fandom, engagement, and repeatable experiences.

A Familiar Playbook

Emanuel and Shapiro bring a very specific skill set to the table. Through TKO Group Holdings, they’ve already demonstrated how to turn fandom into a scalable business model. Live events, media rights, and merchandising all feed into the same ecosystem, creating a flywheel that extends well beyond the original product.

Adding a collectibles-driven brand like Collect-A-Con fits neatly into that approach. More events. More content. More ways to monetize the same highly engaged audience. And it’s not their first exposure to the hobby.

Through Endeavor Group Holdings, Ari Emanuel was part of the early investment wave into Fanatics Collectibles, which has since grown into a multi-billion-dollar business built on licensing, distribution, and live experiences like Fanatics Fest. His partner, Mark Shapiro, a veteran sports and media executive with leadership roles at ESPN, Six Flags, and Endeavor, now serves as President and COO of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC and WWE.

The Collect-A-Con deal feels like a natural next step by leaning further into the event side of that equation.

From Card Shows to Experiences

Inside the industry, the reaction has been less surprise and more confirmation.

Card shows aren’t just rows of tables anymore. They’re evolving into full-scale experiences where the cards are only part of the draw.

Influencer appearances, live streaming, product drops, and social-first content have become as important as what’s inside a display case. The value isn’t just in what you buy, it’s in what you experience, share, and come back for. And that broader ecosystem is what institutional money is really buying into.

Why It Matters for Collectors

For collectors, moves like this can feel distant. More boardroom than show floor.

However, they tend to show up in very tangible ways: bigger venues, more programming, stronger guest lists, more consistent schedules—and, ultimately, more visibility for the hobby itself.

Just as importantly, it reinforces something the market has been signaling for years: cards are no longer the only product driving growth. Memorabilia, toys, comics, anime, and TCGs are all moving together, creating a broader collectibles ecosystem that’s more resilient and more investable than any single category.

If operators like Emanuel and Shapiro see a TCG-heavy show as a scalable platform, it’s a clear signal that the hobby isn’t just having a moment. It’s becoming a business model.

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Lucas Mast
LUCAS MAST

Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.

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