The Changing Face of Card Shows: More Pokémon, Less Sports?
Does increasing presence of Pokémon cards at traditionally sports-focused card shows signal a major shift in the trading card market?
Walking into the show I quickly had a decision to make - turn left into the room designated for sports cards or turn right into the room designated for Pokémon cards. It hit me how much things had changed since I’d started attending shows a couple years earlier. Card shows that had historically been almost entirely sports cards were starting to seem split between sports and trading card games (TCGs).
Are sports cards losing momentum among collectors or are we simply witnessing a boom in the demand for Pokémon cards?
The sports memorabilia and trading card market is hardly showing signs of slowing, with estimates of it growing from $33.6 billion in 2024 to $271.2 billion in 2034.
The trading card game market, on the other hand, is predicted to increase from $6.39B to $11.57B by 2030.
Numbers aside, there is no denying that Pokémon has had a growing presence at traditionally sports focused shows the past 2 years. But why?
The more I’ve asked show attendees this question the more I’ve come to realize and appreciate the inherent differences between sports and Pokémon cards. Being a game, Pokémon is something that kids are likely exposed to earlier in their childhood. That gives them time to learn the characters and appreciate the value certain cards bring in game-play as well as from a collectibility standpoint.
While some may perceive this boom in the Pokémon market to be temporary, it’s worth considering how ingrained it is in youth culture at this point. Pokémon Go, the mobile game, still boasts 90m active monthly users, and in early 2025 McDonald’s even brought back a Pokémon-themed Happy Meal which included a booster pack of cards.
If I've learned anything from my time in the hobby it's that collectors typically collect more than one thing. It’s not rare for someone to have a side collection, or “side PC”, of something completely outside their typical collecting routine. Expanding shows to include Pokémon and other trading card games isn’t necessarily to the detriment of sports collectors, but rather as an amplification of the collecting experience as a whole.
