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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 23: People stand by ALT billboard in Times Square during the 4th annual NFT.NYC conference on June 23, 2022 in New York City. The four-day event featured 1,500 speakers from the crypto and NFT space with over 14,000 guests in attendance. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Noam Galai via Getty Images
The year was 2020. During an unprecedented time, the sports card market saw an unexpected rise. As the hobby adapted to a changing world, NFTs began to thrive. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets stored on the blockchain that verify ownership and authenticity—essentially, a way to prove that a digital item is truly one-of-a-kind. Between January and July 2020, five digital sports cards sold for $36,000 or more. The highest? A Kobe Bryant 1/1 Logoman NFT. Coming in second? A Zion Williamson 1/1 Logoman RPA—oof.
Unlike traditional digital files, NFTs can’t be duplicated in a meaningful way—even if someone takes a screenshot, they don’t own the underlying asset. At the time, the concept was still new to many, often met with skepticism and confusion. Questions like, “If I screenshot your NFT, doesn’t that make it mine?” were common.
But as the world began returning to normal, the hype seemed to fade. While not disappearing entirely, sports card NFTs quickly became more of an afterthought than the next big thing.
Fast forward to March 2025, and the sports card NFT market seems to have a pulse—one that’s gone largely unnoticed by most. Panini, a major player in the trading card world, now runs a blockchain-based NFT marketplace featuring exclusive digital pack drops. Collectors can buy, rip, and resell cards instantly on the platform.
Each week, Panini highlights the top five sales—and the numbers might surprise you. Topping the list this week? A LeBron James Gold Prizm /10 that sold for a staggering $27,750. In fact, three of the top five NFT sales were LeBron cards, totaling nearly $40,000 combined. The other two? A Victor Wembanyama Gold Kaboom /10 that went for $6,000 and a Jayden Daniels Gold Kaboom /10 that sold for $3,500.
Just this morning, Panini launched its 2024 Obsidian Football digital packs—and they sold out within minutes. The rapid sellout has sparked debate once again: is this just another hype-driven fad, or is the digital card space here to stay?
These Obsidian packs are loaded with sought-after case hits like Kabooms, Colorblasts, Stained Glass, Downtowns, and more. Many of these rare pulls have already started hitting the NFT marketplace. A Caleb Williams Green Horizontal Kaboom 1/1 recently sold for $3,500, while a Jayden Daniels Blue Obsidian Rookie /25 went for $175, and a Brock Bowers Kaboom /25 changed hands for just $60.
As the dust settles, it’ll be interesting to see how these exclusive digital cards are valued over time. The bigger question looms: is this surge in digital pack demand a healthy evolution of the hobby—or just another flash-in-the-pan get-rich-quick scheme?
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