Caitlin Clark made sports card history in the midst of an injury-plagued 2025 WNBA season, and even as her time away from the court extended to over a month, Clark’s cards and memorabilia has continued to be some of the hottest commodities within the industry. In July, she had the third highest total card sales on eBay behind only Michael Jordan and Shohei Ohtani at nearly $3.1 million, her highest figure to that point in 2025, according to GemRate.
On Thursday, Panini released its latest collection of autographed Clark memorabilia — photos, basketballs, and jerseys ranging in price from $500 to $1,250. Hours after it all completely sold out, Clark announced she wouldn’t return this season after only playing 13 games due to groin and ankle injuries.
It’s more likely than not that Clark will return fully healthy for the Fever next season. Meaning she’ll still remain one of, if not the biggest draw for the WNBA in 2026. The sports card hobby can be fickle when it comes to injured players, though, with Clark’s card values potentially facing a similar challenge to those faced by Victor Wembanyama cards when the San Antonio Spurs budding star missed extended time last season with an injury.
Clark’s situation presents classic sports card collecting debates. Should collectors sell off Clark’s cards or should they hold them? Should card collectors use this as a “buy low” opportunity?
Injuries to the Fever guard didn’t seem to slow down the amount of six-figure sales for Clark’s cards so far this season, displaying her staying power at least in the short-term. Since July 13, according to online sales database Card Ladder, there were 118 sales of Clark cards going for at least $10,000, eight card sales for at least $50,000 and four cards sales of at least $150,000, including three of her four highest ever sales. Those three were the chase cards from the high-end 2024-25 Panini WNBA Rookie Royalty set. They may tell the tale of Clark’s future market.
Clark’s one-of-one Flawless Logowoman patch autographed card (inscribed “769 pts and counting”) became the highest selling women’s sports card ever on July 24, going for $660,000 through Fanatics Collect, less than two weeks after what would prove to be her final game of the 2025 season. The one-of-one Immaculate Logowoman patch autographed card (inscribed “ROY 24”) sold for less than half that price at $317,200 via Goldin on Aug. 9.
Despite the steep drop between the first and second sale, the one-of-one National Treasures Logowoman patch autographed card (inscribed “2024 #1 pick”) seemed like the better challenger to break the previous Clark record. This one was the only card submitted to a grading company prior to hitting the auction block, receiving a gem mint 9.5 card grade and pristine 10 autograph grade through Beckett. The card earned a significant boost compared to the Immaculate card, but still fell well short of a record sale, ending with a $504,000 price through Fanatics Collect on Aug. 29.
Let’s also use Clark’s 2024 Panini Prizm silver #22 rookie card with a gem mint 10 grade from PSA (population count: 135) as another gauge. It’s a popular parallel from a popular set that has some rarity and has proven tough to get a top grade.
This card sold for $3,100 a month ago, according to Market Movers — an online sales database. The price has dropped by more than 25 percent since then with the last sale for $2,300 earlier this week.
Clark’s cards will face a typical downward trend once the WNBA season ends. It happens to just about every player in just about every sport and then prices rebound once the following season commences. Plus this could be an even bigger issue with WNBA cards since the league carries a longer offseason than many others. Could Clark’s injury compound the expected market drop? And will Clark carry the same star power into next season after a disappointing second year in the pros?
There’s been examples of this going in both directions for current and former hobby darlings.
Anyone who bought “low” on Shohei Ohtani following his elbow injury in 2024 is probably dancing in the streets. Ohtani’s 2018 Bowman Chrome Refractor rookie card with a PSA 10 grade (pop count 161) went from $3,995 in April 2024 and last sold a year later for $9,500. Meanwhile, anyone who bought “low” on Zion Williamson cards following the litany of injuries is probably crying themselves to sleep. Williamson’s 2019 Panini Prizm silver PSA 10 rookie card (pop count 1,851) sold for around $6,000 in 2020 and has continued to fall ever since. It now sells for less than $250.
We’re still in wait-and-see mode with Wemby. His 2023 Panini Prizm silver PSA 10 rookie card (population: 4,713) was selling for around $850 just before his season-ending injury in February and dropped down to around $660 in May. But now that the new NBA season is nearing and Wembanyama is reportedly ready to return, the card is back to selling around $850.
At least Clark’s injuries shouldn’t stop her from returning to the court completely healthy next season. Clark remains the most popular WNBA player by far and one of the most popular athletes in the sports card world considering she’s continuously among the top searched athletes through eBay. And when fully healthy, she has the potential to be the best player in the WNBA. Nike will also debut her first signature shoe in 2026, with her brand logo first unveiled last week.
Given how much money is being thrown around within the hobby, it’s hard to say that we’ve already witnessed the peaks of Clark’s card market. Still, Clark seems like she’ll be a safer hobby bet than most athletes facing these circumstances.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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