Before going public, Karyu started selling NBA player cards.

Author | Lan Jie

Editor | Qiao Qian

On October 3rd, Karyu, a leading domestic trading card company, reached a cooperation with Fanatics Collectibles, a globally renowned sports and entertainment collectibles enterprise. The two parties will jointly launch officially licensed NBA trading card products - the NBA Match Attax 2025 series in the Chinese market.

In China, Fanatics Inc., the global giant in sports and entertainment collectibles, may not be well - known.

As early as August 2021, Fanatics Inc. obtained long - term trading card manufacturing and distribution rights for top - level sports events such as MLB, MLBPA, NBA, and NBPA. In 2022, Fanatics acquired Topps, the traditional leader in trading cards, and also cooperated with auction houses such as Sotheby's in high - end card auctions and exhibitions. Thus, it officially became a giant integrating trading card manufacturing, licensing, D2C, and secondary market services, and is also a giant in the trading card track. Shortly afterwards, according to the Wall Street Journal, after completing another round of financing of $700 million at the end of 2022, the valuation of Fanatics Inc. reached $31 billion.

Fanatics Collectibles is a subsidiary of Fanatics Inc., established in 2021, focusing on the production and sales of sports trading cards, sports memorabilia, etc. Entering the Chinese market now is an important step in its global strategy, after all, there are hundreds of millions of NBA viewers in China.

Back to this specific cooperation, starting from October 3rd, the NBA Match Attax 2025 series products will be sold in Karyu's flagship stores, card shops, and other online and offline channels.

It is worth noting that this series of products includes two different packaging specifications - the Power Pack and the Super Pack, with single - pack prices of 10 yuan and 20 yuan respectively. This pricing is not high, and the official positions it as the first "mass - market" product launched by Fanatics Collectibles and Topps under the new NBA licensing cooperation.

In other words, the path for Fanatics Collectibles to expand the Chinese market is not to take the high - end route and target the core sports event fans, but to expand and enrich the existing user profile of trading cards.

For Karyu, the strategic significance of this cooperation is greater. This is the beginning of its entry into the operation of sports IP trading cards. After all, the copyright fees for the NBA are not cheap, and the sales revenue also needs to be shared with the copyright holders. Therefore, at least in the short term, Karyu's profit margin in the trading card business will be relatively limited.

However, being able to enter the trading card track is of great significance to Karyu. As Karyu's official stated - this is an attempt in a new field for Karyu. Providing the first officially licensed NBA trading card products in China will enrich its existing product line and also lay a good foundation for Karyu's subsequent R & D and operation of sports IP trading cards.

As early as last century, some companies discovered that the promotional paper inserts in tobacco and chewing gum had the potential to become independent commodities, and Topps was one of them. With the global popularity and commercialization of sports events, trading cards have become one of the earliest commercialized card categories and have formed a mature collection market.

Trading cards have historical influence and auction records that other card categories cannot match. In August 2022, a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle trading card rated Mint + 9.5 by SGC (Sportscard Guaranty) was sold for $12.6 million at the Heritage Auctions, setting a new record for trading card auctions.

In China, a key node for the popularity of trading cards was in 2002 when Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets of the NBA as the first foreign number - one draft pick in history, which promoted the further spread of the NBA in China and laid the audience foundation for the current trading card market.

In the past few years, with the rise of emotional consumption and the emergence of sales forms such as live - streaming and blind boxes, trading cards saw a rapid short - term increase in popularity in 2020, but this trend could not be maintained. Currently, the domestic trading card market is in a lukewarm state - it is rare to see blockbuster products, no leading manufacturers have emerged in niche segments, and the corresponding secondary market is not mature enough.

On the one hand, the entry threshold for trading cards is relatively high. Different from the logic of Pop Mart, which attracts non - fan consumers with "good looks", trading cards are difficult to quickly win the favor of non - fan groups. On the other hand, the domestic sports event system and operation are not as mature as those in overseas markets, and it is more difficult for relevant events to break through to a wider audience. Therefore, Panini, the previous brand that tried to sell trading cards in the Chinese market, failed to make significant progress after more than a decade of operation.

However, some situations are changing. The trading card consumption boom driven by live - streaming and blind boxes in 2020 attracted a group of younger consumers. In the past two years, many sports stars have become popular on social platforms. As a result, some well - known domestic sports card brands have emerged, such as QICA, which was established in 2023 and has launched collectible cards for Chinese star athletes such as Sun Yingsha, Wang Chuqin, and Wang Meng.

From this, it is not difficult to see why Fanatics Collectibles chose Karyu, which has strong channel capabilities and a younger user profile, as its distributor.

According to Karyu's latest prospectus, as of December 31, 2024, the company had 217 distributors in 31 provinces across the country, 39 retail KA channels, and operated 351 Karyu centers. In terms of self - operation, Karyu also had 32 flagship stores and 13 online self - operated stores.

Starting to sell trading cards is also one of Karyu's transformation strategies after its setback in going public.

Although there is no official disclosure, it is not difficult to speculate why Karyu, with a market share of over 70%, is stuck in the process of going public. In addition to the regulatory risks brought by its younger user profile and blind - box sales methods, there is also its dependence on a single IP. Karyu has more than 70 IPs under its belt, but the revenue contributed by the five major IPs of My Little Pony, Ultraman, Ye Luoli, Egg Party, and Jujutsu Kaisen accounts for 86.1%, and this figure was 98.4% earlier. According to the prospectus, most of Karyu's products are still developed and sold under non - exclusive IP licenses.

What is more dangerous is that Karyu's revenue and profit situation is not stable enough. Its revenue declined significantly in 2023, and the company said it was mainly due to the decrease in the sales of collectible trading cards.

Before this cooperation to sell trading cards, Karyu had taken multiple actions to expand IPs, enrich product categories, and explore new markets.

During the summer vacation this year, Karyu collaborated with the popular movie "The Little Monster in Langlang Mountain", which resonated with office workers, and launched plush blind - box products. In September this year, Karyu also announced its official entry into the US market.

For Karyu, if it can successfully enter the trading card track through this cooperation, it can move away from the label of "children's blind - box cards" and embrace a new market with great potential.