(Bloomberg) — Fanatics Inc. hired a former television executive to grow its trading card and collectibles business.
Mike Mahan, the former chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, will run a set of new businesses Fanatics acquired or created over the past year. He’ll be in charge of a growing portfolio of collectibles brands, including longtime baseball card incumbent Topps, pop-culture card label Zerocool and Candy Digital.
Fanatics said the collectibles business is approaching $300 million in profit. It expects the division to surpass $1 billion in revenue in 2022. By comparison, the company has said the e-commerce business will have $4.5 billion in revenue this year.
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin has been growing collectibles through deals with sports leagues and players’ unions. Fanatics bought Topps for about $500 million in January to fast-track the division’s growth. Then in March it created the Zerocool line of physical trading cards for culture and entertainment properties. Last week, Fanatics signed deals for college sports cards with more than 100 schools.
Candy, a digital collectibles business, has agreements with the likes of Major League Baseball and Netflix Inc. to sell non-fungible tokens based on their intellectual property.
Fanatics has focused on sports-adjacent categories as it expands from its roots in licensed apparel for athletic teams. In April, Rubin said he expects the company to go public at some point.
Rubin said the collectibles business has seen “tremendous growth” over the past year. Trading cards in particular have been red-hot over the past two years for both hobbyists and investors looking to put their cash in alternative assets. At least 18 cards have sold for more than $1 million this year, including a Honus Wagner baseball card that went for $3.1 million at auction in March, according to card grader and price guide Beckett.Mahan will expand marketing in an effort to grow the number of collectors across the industry. He will report to Rubin in his new role.
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