If you care less about the World Series than Decoy — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s dog who performed the ceremonial first pitch at a game in August — this is the story for you.
Topps, the trading card company Fanatics acquired for ~$500m in 2022, and the Westminster Kennel Club are partnering on cards featuring champion dogs.
The Westminster Dog Show…
… sees ~3k dogs each year, judging each dog against how well it matches its breed’s official standard. The top dogs across seven categories (sporting, hound, terrier, etc.) then compete for Best in Show.
Dogs like Sage, the black mini poodle who took this year’s Best in Show, will appear in a 40-card set as part of Topps’ Allen & Ginter series.
Allen & Ginter was a Virginia tobacco company that began manufacturing trading cards in the late 1800s featuring not just sports stars, but entertainers, flags, birds, and more.
Topps SVP of product Clay Luraschi told Sports Illustrated he had a set of tobacco cards depicting English Bull Terriers as a kid, and considered the partnership a “no-brainer.”
Among the regular cards will be extra collectible relic cards containing pieces of “Best in Show” ribbons or handlers’ winner’s lapels.
But will people buy them?
Well, people still collect trading cards:
- The global sports trading card market was worth $44B as of 2023.
- Topps generated $640m in baseball card sales in 2023, the lion’s share of Fanatics’ total $1B revenue.
Westminster sees the cards as a way to make an event often seen as snooty appear more accessible and reach a broader audience.
It’s not exactly the Super Bowl — the cheapest tickets for this year’s Best in Show were $36 — but not all dog lovers can make the trip to New York.
For people who aren’t into sports, dog trading cards may make for a quirky hobby. I mean, just look at this Pekingese.
