Collectors say Caitlin Clark will help sell WNBA sports cards

CLIVE, Iowa — Nearly one week ago, the University of Iowa women’s basketball team lost to South Carolina in the national championship game, marking the last game we’ll see Caitlin Clark in a Hawkeye uniform.

As Clark makes the transition to a professional sports career in the WNBA, sports trading card collectors believe the hype around the star player from West Des Moines will continue for years to come.

In fact, sports card stores like The Rookie in Clive already have more collectors bringing Clark cards in for sale during their weekly auction on Saturdays.

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“A great player coming into the league can move the dial on a collectable pretty easily,” The Rookie owner Anders Olson said. “Pretty optimistic that the WNBA cards produced by Panini will be also be really popular in this area.”

Among the near-500,000 cards inside the store, nearly a dozen Caitlin Clark cards were up on the “bid board” Saturday, which holds a few dozen total. Olson also recently received “rare” gold Clark cards as well.

“They’re getting kind of expensive,” Olson said.

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The hype around the presumed No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft has collectors noticing new demographics getting into sports trading cards as a whole.

“Even my own daughter at 7, had no interest in collecting cards,” explained Brian Eikenberry, a promoter for the Capital City Card Convention. “No interest in sports memorabilia, but now she gets to see Caitlin on TV every night, and even she was hunting for a Caitlin Clark memorabilia and cards.”

Olson said he’s seen similarly spikes in popularity and abundance among previous sports trading cards with athletes like Sabrina Ionescu. Eikenberry on the other time adds, by the time Clark is through her rookie year, WNBA cards will no longer “be left on the shelves,” but instead you “won’t be able to find a box on the shelf.”