Is the Sports Card Market in a Bubble? Mark Cuban Hedges His Bets

Dallas Mavericks owner and famed entrepreneur Mark Cuban entered the sports card market bubble debate on Thursday when he listed it among his assets on which he’s hedging his bets.

Cuban appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and said he’s adjusted his investment portfolio in a number of categories for fear that an inevitable rise in interest rates will take its toll on a number of his assets.

Sports Card Market Speculation Fueled by Interest Rates

“Whether it’s cryptocurrency, whether it’s trading cards, whether it’s non-fungible tokens,” Cuban said almost nonexistent interest rates established by the Federal Reserve have boosted speculative investments. “When you have such low interest rates, you’re going to get appreciable assets inflating … It creates a lot of concern because when interest rates, if and when they go up, and who knows whether it’s years or decades when we’ll see 4%, 5% interest rate again, then people will have different decision criteria.”

Whether the sports card market could see a crash like the one it suffered in the 1990s is a great debate among collectors and speculators. The market has probably never been hotter than it is now, with retailers unable to keep stock, and hobby boxes selling for inflated prices before being released to the public.

A lack of live sports during the early months of the pandemic, as well as hot rookie classes in basketball and football that included Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, Justin Herbert, and Joe Burrow, have helped fuel demand.

Insiders Debate Likelihood of Market Crash

A couple of famed insiders have taken opposing viewpoints on if a crash – or at least a steady market correction – will come soon.

Dave Oancea, more famously known as “Vegas Dave,” auctioned a one-of-one Mike Trout rookie card for $3.9 million last year, but he’s not confident the market can sustain the fervor that leads to seven-figure single card sales.

“Mark my words the sports card market will collapse in 24-36 months. Remember it was me that predicted the market would boom,” he tweeted recently.

Meanwhile, Gary Vaynerchuk, an influencer who has helped bring attention to the sports card market, is still bullish on sports and gaming cards.

The differing viewpoints sparked heated debates on Facebook groups on Thursday. Robby Harmon, a member of the group “Sports Cards Buy Sell Trade & Sports Talk,” said he agrees with Vaynerchuk’s side of this argument.

“Been watching Gary for years, a couple [of] years before this took off he told us all to start investing and that it would explode,” Harmon wrote. “Here we are. I’m taking Gary all day. Hasn’t been wrong yet.”