Lebron was the guy, but Trout just lapped him. Who’s gonna be hockeys Trout?

dismonkey1 said:
McDavid in LA (especially with a CUP) would expand the market in ways that only Gretzky did when the trade happened. Winning a CUP in Edmonton would make him god to the Canadian market and no doubt would increase his card prices...winning in a place like like LA would put him on a global level. I lived in Ventura, CA back in the 2000s, and made plenty of trips to LA. Say what you want about SoCal, but they love their superstar athletes and L.A. is the global mecca of entertainment stardom. In order for the market to truly take off, you need that global mega-star that not only sells for crazy levels on his/her own, but also lifts all the other boats as his own tide rises.
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Lot of truth here, LA is a MEGA market, clearly the king of the West coast.

cardboardnostalgia said:
I think LA is the wrong market for the perceived pop in NHL popularity. If McDavid or another superstar went to the Rangers and won I think it would be bigger than any other market.
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You're always going to have the benefit of being in the East, that has been proven countless times, simply because of the time zone and number of big market and the original 6 teams out that way. That said, with media reporting the way they are now in real time, I believe the gap is closing.

Also, in a perfect world, you really need to keep McDavid in the West to set up for a Crosby or Ovie versus McDavid Cup Finals, that true "passing of the torch" type moment. Putting McDavid in the East would oversaturate things unless Crosby and Ovie were retired, you need balance with the stars.

That is what the NHL wants/needs more than anything, that mega-star showdown for the whole burrito with East/West time zones involved!
 
paulxing said:
I think he was just making the comparison to Gretzky's career
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I understand the comparison but I don’t think you can realistically compare the popularity and momentum that the league had in the early 90s versus where it’s at today. McDavid going to LA would be a blip on the sports radar compared to Gretzky in 1988.

Imagine if Gretzky went to the Rangers in 1988 and brought along Messier and Kurri later on? You’re certainly looking at the possibility of a NYR dynasty and arguably a bigger spike in popularity for hockey in mainstream sports. Gretzky led the way for the southern expansion of hockey in the United States but the debate is still going on whether or not the majority of those teams should even exist or if they’re even viable business ventures without league intervention.
 
TheGriceBoys said:
Best for whom? Edmonton? The NHL? Canada with no cups in a gazillion years? People who are exclusively hockey card collectors? Who is it truly best for?
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All those would of course benefit from McDavid winning a cup in Edmonton.

If we're talking about increase in prices, I think McDavid sticking with Edmonton and winning a cup would make for a futher increase in his cards as oppose to him being dealt and winning a cup with a US team.
 
99goals said:
Actually good point. Soccer AND cricket will surpass hockey.
I even put esports in there too

Basketball
Baseball
Football
Soccer/football
eSports
Hockey
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Who makes eSports cards and do they sell well? Haven't followed them at all.

:taz:
 
TanguayFan said:
Actually, I would consider hockey almost interchangeable with soccer. The major difference is the number of sets released......ending prices for some mid level players can blow hockey out of the water. And prices for players like Ronaldo and Messi are insane!
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I've gotten into soccer cards this year and it's definitely a growing collector base -- with some strong sales. The one difference I've noticed is the lack of traditional "rookie cards" (they exist, but not the standard ie. rookie autos, RPAs) ... I think once those are introduced to the same scale as the main 4 sports, it'll take off even more considering it's a much more global sport than hockey.
 
mw83krk said:
I've gotten into soccer cards this year and it's definitely a growing collector base -- with some strong sales. The one difference I've noticed is the lack of traditional "rookie cards" (they exist, but not the standard ie. rookie autos, RPAs) ... I think once those are introduced to the same scale as the main 4 sports, it'll take off even more considering it's a much more global sport than hockey.
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Soccer is very interesting to follow in the card market. I collected a few soccer cards here and there from 2006-2010. There wasn't a lot to go around.

Now? It's pretty big and growing. The amount of awesome cards they have available is a lot better and the cards look stunning. And prices for the star players make it all worth it if you happen to pull them. Unlike hockey, where even a star auto makes you break even (maybe).
 
OilersRule said:
When Crosby retires and the NHL hypes the heck out of it, his card values have a great possibility of exploding. Make a Netflix documentary about him and the skies the limit ;)
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As much as I love Sid it would be a boring documentary lol. Outside of being great at hockey he doesn't really do anything that would sell a TV series. He lives too clean a life. What's the most controversial thing he's ever done? Besides cursing at PK Subban that one time lol.
 
FrozenInferno said:
As much as I love Sid it would be a boring documentary lol. Outside of being great at hockey he doesn't really do anything that would sell a TV series. He lives too clean a life. What's the most controversial thing he's ever done? Besides cursing at PK Subban that one time lol.
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Same thing can be said for Gretzky - clean and boring. But with their level of stardom and with good production, I can see a very good doc and one that elevates his stock. His on ice performance has enough highlights to fill a few hours alone. I bet it'd be a winner.
 
gomaz said:
Same thing can be said for Gretzky - clean and boring. But with their level of stardom and with good production, I can see a very good doc and one that elevates his stock. His on ice performance has enough highlights to fill a few hours alone. I bet it'd be a winner.
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It's interesting how the biggest hockey stars manage to avoid controversy and remain so guarded despite their fame. It's usually very intentional too. I remember the Spittin Chicklets episode where they talked about how Sid acted behind the scenes when they hung out with him at the bar after an interview. He'd take pictures with people at the bar but was always careful to hide his beer bottle out of the frame so he wouldn't be seen drinking it. Little things like that these guys are always thinking about whenever they're in public to preserve their image because they know they're the face of the league and role models.

For Sid fans and hockey fans in general a doc would be a hit for sure. As long as we don't expect Last Dance level stuff like gambling stories and poisoned pizzas lol
 
If the NHL is able to successfully restart the season before the NFL, NBA and MLB, we could see a significant influx of new collectors. I believe that a lot of non-NHL fans in North America, especially, are so starved for sports that new fans will inflate the market. Whether or not they stay for the long term or are only here temporarily remains to be seen.
 
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cfind said:
If the NHL is able to successfully restart the season before the NFL, NBA and MLB, we could see a significant influx of new collectors. I believe that a lot of non-NHL fans in North America, especially, are so starved for sports that new fans will at inflate the market. Whether or not they stay for the long term or are only here temporarily remains to be seen.
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I agree.

And maybe not on the same level, but the Vegas Golden Knights fanbase is a good example of this. The fans there who hadn't truly been exposed to hockey before have turned into collectors who otherwise wouldn't have been. The hot start to the franchise didn't hurt, either.
 
Are the games going to be shown on national tv in the US and ESPN? If not you will not be seeing a bump in interest with the majority of games being played on NBCSN. The first sport to move games to Netflix full time will benefit tremendously.
 
dismonkey1 said:
If they ever really pushed the marketing for soccer, it would surpass all the others. Most soccer fans in their 30s and up did not grow up collecting cards of their favorite player as a kid because they didn't exist. The soccer market is still very new and has tons of room to grow. A big hurdle is the popularity of the sport in the United States. It may be the only sport in the U.S. where women's U.S. national team trading cards are worth more than their male counterparts.

I still don't see any of the players outside of Crosby challenging for top hobby dollars. Crosby is fairly well known outside of the hockey world to the casual sports fan (Ovi as well), plays in a sports city- Pittsburgh, etc. McDavid plays in a city in Canada that many of my finely educated peers in the U.S. couldn't find on a map....
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Is it just me or are soccer box prices shooting up?
 
Whoop said:
Is it just me or are soccer box prices shooting up?
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It's not just you. I opened so much world cup 2014 prizm and have no base to show for it :(. So many Ronaldos and Messis. I thinkt he soccer card hobby is coming alive. Mbappe rookies are going for good money now too.
 
It's not about the player or even sport as such... it's about the fan base... do they have enough disposable cash? are they crazy about collecting? Is there a second bidder just as crazy.

So I would say Matthews but I think he would have to go to a big us market.


creasecollector said:
That's true.

If he wins a Cup with Toronto..... I don't even want to think about what the prices will be like.

TMLFan3 said:
It’s Auston Matthews hands down.

1. Plays in the biggest hockey market in the NHL.
2. Has the US appeal as he was born/grew up there.
3. Look how many goals he has already.

If he ever wins the Cup or helps the US to the Olympic gold medal, watch out.
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