News and Insights
The Rise of Collectibles: Boosting Fan Engagement from Stadiums to Mainstream
May 19, 2026
In the current consumer landscape, there’s a lot of noise. Online, people are constantly bombarded by information; it can be overwhelming and a lot of that information may be straight up ignored.
So how do brands stand out? What rises above the noise?
For brands to really land with what they’re doing, they need to ‘get’ what their audience wants.
People want unique, they want authentic, and they want interesting.
Collectibles are having a moment right now for this very reason, and the sports industry leads the way. Between the trading card market, branded team items, and memorabilia from players, the hunger for people to get their hands on something to have, show off, and be proud of, is seemingly higher than ever.
The Sports Blueprint
In sports, one entire market that’s modeled its operating procedure with this idea front and center: Minor League Baseball.
New minor league baseball “alternate identities” have grown exponentially in the last decade or so. For a few games a season, minor league teams play as completely different teams, complete with a new name and uniform. These identities, like the names of minor league clubs as a whole, are usually a reference to the culture of the region.
The new identities come with corresponding merch fans can wear with pride for their team and town, and teams have come up with some bangers for alternate identities.
I could write up a whole post just on minor league baseball alternate identities I love, but some notable ones from this season alone include the Jersey Shore Pork Rollers (who people from North Jersey might refer to as the “Taylor Hams”), the Utah Dirty Sodas (anyone who has seen Secret Lives of Mormon Wives will get this one), the Palm Beach Frozen Iguanas (referencing the fact that iguanas in South Florida will literally fall out of trees when it gets too cold), and the Louisville Humidity (complete with built-in sweat stains on the jerseys).
Professional sports teams have the most organic opportunities to release new and unique apparel and collectibles throughout the year. In hopes of getting more fans in the door for select games, teams will run giveaway promotions. In the past, fans could expect a simple team schedule fridge magnet or a player bobblehead, but in recent years, the promos have evolved.
This season, the Anaheim Ducks giveaways included a duck mask that turned the entire crowd into mascot West Wing, Croc-inspired duck clogs, and a branded finger board reminiscent of the 2000s.
In 2023, The Red Wings’ Thanksgiving Eve game featured a giveaway in this spirit of the holiday: a Zamboni-shaped gravy boat. The giveaway was such a hit, the team has run it back in the two seasons that have followed; with a retro design voted by fans for 2024 and a celebratory ‘100 years of Hockeytown’ version for their centennial season in 2025.
A good indication of how popular an item is, and an increasingly real issue for casual collectors, is how much of a profit fans try to flip it for online. As fans clamor for limited-edition items, those lucky enough to get their hands on the item will offer them online for huge profits.
This season, the Buffalo Sabres sold beer sabre novelty cups at select games. They frequently sold out quickly and have been listed on re-sale markets for ridiculous markups.
To commemorate the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in April, the Los Angeles Dodgers offered a Yoshi bobblehead, rocking Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s #18. The bobblehead is being re-sold for $200+.
Fans are willing to pony up for the high markups because, in their eyes, the symbol of their fandom and the proximity to the brand are worth the price.
Broader Cultural Relevance
On the topic of movies and collectibles, a recent trend that hits this exact point is the explosion of collectible popcorn buckets. When the collectible bucket for Dune 2 went viral in 2024 (picture not attached, IYKYK), it kicked off a trend of big movies trying to capitalize on the craze. Seemingly every bucket has been adored by fans of their associated movies and franchises, with releases like Gladiator II, Wicked, and Ghostbusters getting buckets, and AMC is capitalizing on the trend for its 25th anniversary re-release of Shrek in theaters this month.
The merch drop that inspired this whole post came from Amtrak. To commemorate their new NextGen Acela train, Amtrak collaborated with the New York School of Design to create limited-edition ‘trak suits.’ Sure, the price of the suits (sold for $279) wasn’t exactly what people were looking for, but the design landed.
Dunkin’ Donuts seems to get what their fans want, as evidenced by their limited-release single iced coffee glove. Who would want one single glove? Apparently, a lot of people. The gloves, which were given away free, were gobbled up quickly at most locations, and the giveaway got a lot of attention online.
For drops like these, social media coverage is extremely valuable, as viral moments lead to media coverage and increased interest in the drops.
The Consumer Lifestyle and Sports team has worked closely with clients to help them tap into cultural moments and help consumers feel like they are part of something.
The probing questions to ask when considering a collab:
- What audience are we trying to reach with this flex?
- What do we want them to think about our brand?
- How big of a risk are we willing to take?
- Who wants in on our brand fans?
People want to show off what they like, and they like to have fun and cool things to hold and look at, but for a collectible to work, it has to be authentic. Anything that feels like a cash grab will not only not sell, it will also alter people’s perception of the brand in a potentially unrecoverable way.
Creating a collectible that people want can increase brand loyalty and lead to great organic endorsements for a brand.
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Patrick is an Assistant Account Executive on the Consumer Lifestyle and Sports team. Before joining FINN Partners, he spent six years as a local news reporter, covering primarily sports for TV stations in Nebraska, Texas, and Mississippi.
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