Caitlin Clark has made a career out of breaking records: all-time NCAA Division I men’s and women’s scoring leader, most points and assists made by a rookie in WNBA history, first triple-double by a rookie in WNBA history.
And this year, in two separate auctions, Clark’s trading cards set new sale records for women’s sports cards, the first selling for $366,000 in March, the second for $660,000 just four months later.
Sports collectibles industry experts say interest in the Indiana Fever star’s cards is leading to some growth in the women’s memorabilia market overall, particularly for basketball players.
“It’s gone from nothing to a meaningful amount,” said Ryan Hoge, president of card and collectibles grader Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), adding that the appetite for women’s sports cards outside of Serena Williams and Mia Hamm barely existed three or four years ago. “Relative to all the other cards we see, it’s still small, but it’s got to start somewhere — and the growth rates are outpacing a lot of other categories.”
Over the past several years, Clark’s popularity has propelled widespread interest in women’s sports. The 2025 and 2024 WNBA regular seasons both were the most watched ever — despite Clark playing in just 13 games this year because of injury. Women’s professional basketball and soccer teams are commanding record expansion fees and valuations, and both professional and college athletes are signing millions of dollars’ worth of endorsement deals.
While the value of Clark’s memorabilia might be an anomaly, industry experts say they’re seeing signs that collectors are looking to enter the market for other women’s basketball players.
One sign of the market’s early growth is the increase in cards submitted for grading, a signal that collectors are looking to price their items with the intention to sell. From January to September of 2024, PSA graded 58,000 WNBA cards, according to data provided by the company. During the same time in 2025, PSA has graded nearly three times that amount, about 159,000.
Hoge said a woman athlete had never shown up in the top 50 of athletes’ cards graded across all sports, but Clark now is in the top 10. Clark is also PSA’s second-most-graded basketball player overall this year, second only to Michael Jordan. The company is also grading more cards of Dallas Wings guard and 2025 first overall WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers, Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, USC guard JuJu Watkins and Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink, Hoge said.
“It’s staggering, and [Clark has] this pull-forward effect for other WNBA players. We’re seeing interest in women’s soccer cards, so, it’s a thing,” Hoge said. “If she’s the Michael Jordan, people are going to want to collect the Charles Barkleys, the Scottie Pippens, the Hakeem Olajuwons.”
In 2025 so far, about 11,200 Bueckers cards and 9,300 Reese cards have been submitted to PSA for grading, more than triple the amount for either star last year. Similarly, the company has received about 5,600 Watkins cards in 2025, more than double the amount in 2024. PSA also has received about 11,900 Brink cards in 2025, 10 times the amount from last year.
Ron Jaiven, general manager of U.S. collectibles at eBay, said he has seen a “remarkable” increase in WNBA cards sold on the platform — and not just because of Clark. (eBay declined to provide data about the number of cards sold over the past year.)
“We’re seeing incredible increases this year even versus 2024,” Jaiven said. “Caitlin Clark is certainly the biggest, but we’re seeing searches and sales for modern, even traditional players like Candace Parker and Sue Bird rookie cards.”
Javien said that three of the four most searched college athletes on eBay during the past NCAA basketball season were women — Bueckers, Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, all trailing only then-Duke star Cooper Flagg.
According to data compiled by Card Ladder, which tracks trading card sales, there have been 13 sales of Bueckers cards for at least $10,000 since April 1. Two Reese card sales have topped $30,000 since July 24, and, five days after Watkins tore her ACL in the NCAA tournament, a collector paid more than $40,000 on a 1-of-1 numbered, autographed Watkins SuperFractor.
Also this summer, collectors bought 1-of-1 numbered 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Black Finite and 2024 Panini Royalty WNBA Kaboom! Green Cameron Brink rookie cards for $16,287 and $15,000, respectively.
“Fifteen thousand dollars for a WNBA card that’s not Caitlin Clark? That’s impressive, too,” Hoge said. “I don’t know if it’s going extend fully to other sports… but we’ll see if they continue to move.”
WhatNot, a livestreaming shopping platform, recently saw its most lucrative single-day and week for sports cards sales in the company’s history, said Eric Shemtov, the company’s general manager of sports. He said the record-setting day coincided with the release of the card set that included the $660,000 Clark card.
“Collectors are always looking for what the next big thing is, how they beat everyone else to the punch — and we’re beyond that point with WNBA cards,” Shemtov said.
Still, other auction houses and industry watchers wonder whether, aside from Clark and other basketball players, the appetite for women’s collectibles will extend to other sports.
“It’s been very niche up until recently with Clark coming along,” said Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions. “They’re modern athletes, the WNBA is gaining more popularity, I do think there’s more product out there for people to buy retail. … The athletic field is male-dominated and the collectors are, too.”
Shemtov said he sees a potential future for women’s sports collectibles as more people watch women’s sports. He pointed to Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” and “Full Swing,” both of which brought new fans to racing and golf, respectively — and, he said, the collecting hobby followed suit.
“A few years ago, [those sports] were underinvested in,” Shemtov said. “Collectors really do love [bridging] the gap from the fandom to the hobby. … It’s one of the places where WNBA is leading the charge.”