The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
Because the season started so late, card manufacturers chose not to include high-profile rookies such as Nail Yakupov in this season’s product lines.
That decision hits Saadeh Helou in the wallet. He’s owned Helou’s Sports Cards and Collectibles in Windsor, Ont., for 21 years.
“Normally, we have 14 or 15 sets a year and this year we’ll have six or seven sets. That’s going to hurt my business, for sure,” he said. “I’m very upset. It’s a huge impact.”
Helou predicts his overall sales will be down 50 per cent. Nearly three quarters of sales are hockey cards, he said.
Chris Carlin, the sports marketing and social media manager for card company Upper Deck, confirmed his company will produce fewer product lines and shorter product runs. However, he said some of the price points will be lowered.
Sad to hear. Honestly one victim of the lockout I hadn't considered before.... largely because I didn't know that people still bought sports cards!
The popularity of sports cards tends to be cyclical. The funny part ofcourse is that the cards produced when the hobby is least popular are the most valuable.
I collected as a kid. I wanted to get into it again but there was too many different sets to keep track of and the cost has skyrocketed. I remember in the early 90's you could get a pack for 50cents for the chep opeechee and a few bucks for a higher quality. Now its like $7 or something.
There was a card dealer near where I live, when the 90's lockout occurred, it pretty much put him out of business. So about a year before the most recent lockout he JUST managed to get started again, now because of the new lockout he'll probably be done again.
"14 or 15 sets per year"!? Wow, no wonder they are mostly worthless today.
Number of Sets does not equate to how many cards are made total. It's not worthless today. I'm sure most people now would probably assume that the hobby is similar to the 90s where everything was overproduced to hell and back making the majority of cards worth less than the cardboard they were printed on.
Sets now are way more limited in their production and a lot of products can carry significant value. This lockout hurts because a big part of the industry is driven by rookies and the decision to not include players who are debuting until next year in sets has caused the cancellation of some more successful sets and killed interest from a big part of the fan base as a whole.
Small card places without a second revenue stream will take a big hit until July.
Hard to beat the old O Pee Chee cards from the late 60's and early 70's . Those were the days . I still remember putting a few Drydens in my bicycle spokes .
I collect hockey cards however I don't buy much from stores. This year, I bought none from stores (minus some randomly packed $1 packs from Dollarama with used cards). I still buy cards but they're from eBay or Sportlots or COMC (I prefer base cards anyways). The reason I bought none from Walmart or Toys R Us or wherever is because of the lockout, I don't wanna spend $ on the NHL. So if I buy a jersey then it'll be a replica knock-off and if I buy cards, they'll be used.
I know most people don't have the restraint with that boycott but I'm sure not in the mood to give the NHL $ (I understand the licenses for this have been paid in anyways but that's besides the point).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oscar Acosta
Sports card companies, dealers and such killed their own business.
