A recent study conducted by Market Decipher, a premier market research, and consultancy firm, has provided good news to Topps India, the Indian subsidiary of the leading producer of sports and non-sports themed trading cards.
As per the report published this month, India has grown to become the biggest emerging market for collectibles, with the advancement of the technology and IT sector.
"India, the global IT powerhouse, is also emerging as a major NFT destination. With 11 NFT companies headquartered in India, it only lags behind US and Singapore. India's NFT marketplaces account for 5.02 percent of the world's total. India holds huge market potential in all sectors of collectibles including trading cards, figurines, and jerseys," the report said.
Topps India believes that the report is an indication of the rising interest among the Indian masses in collectibles, and these are potentially good signs for the rising Sports memorabilia market in the country.
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"Significant growth is expected in the collectible industry in India, with a large population of the key demographic invested in trading card collectibles. As a global brand, Topps has recognized that and plans are in the pipeline to make the best of it," Pravin Kalnawat, Head of Operations, Topps India said.
Another interesting point to note from the report is the fact that despite the presence of sports NFTs and digital collectibles, trading cards continue to dominate the Sports memorabilia market, which is part of the $412 billion Collectibles Industry.
According to the report by Market Decipher, the global Sports memorabilia industry along with the trading cards is valued at $33 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $227.2 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 21.8 percent from 2022 to 2032. The core sports memorabilia market excluding NFT and trading cards was estimated at $12.2 Billion in 2021 and is growing at a rate of 15.6 percent from 2022 to 2032.
Though NFT is witnessing a much faster growth which is just due to its nascent industry nature and quick adoption, the memorabilia industry is the all-time leading category in the sports collectibles sector. But despite the growth of NFTs over the last decades, physical collectibles such as trading card remains the most popular items. The Market Decipher report suggests that over 98 percent of sports collectors collect trading cards.
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34-year-old Amit Doshi, who works as a Business Unit Manager (the UK and Africa II) at Meril Life Sciences, and is one of the leading collectors of physical collectibles in India, explains why the interest still persists in the trading cards in the digital age.
"Physical collectibles have a magical ability to teleport one as they transcend time and instill a sense of nostalgia in the person collecting it," Amit says. "The collectibles become a part of you," he adds.
Citing Abdul Kadir, one of the biggest collectors in the world, Amit said - "When you open your collection, you feel young. You go back in time, you become a child, and you relive some of the best moments in your life."
Another important statistic to be noted from the report is the fact that over 60 million collectors are involved in the purchase/trading of sports memorabilia. Trading cards are believed to be a dominant segment with almost every collector involved.
"Topps is known worldwide for their premium trading cards. With India potentially opening up its arm to physical collectibles, and trading cards leading the market, there is a big opportunity for us to capture the Indian market and make ourselves a force as the leader in the collectibles industry in the country," Pravin Kalnawat signed off.
