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Derek Jeter helps launch new sports card collecting, grading company
Since he retired in 2014, Derek Jeter’s rookie cards have soared in value, often attracting six-figure sales.
Now the 2020 Hall of Famer is diving into the sports card industry himself.
Jeter is a founding partner of Arena Club, a new sports card collecting and grading platform that launched Thursday.
Let by Jeter and co-founder and CEO Brian Lee, Arena Club hopes to provide a bridge between physical and digital cards. Users on the platform will have their own showroom where they can buy, sell, trade and display their cards.
According to a press release from the company, Arena Club vows to provide “a transparent way to grade cards and a frictionless way to transact,” as well as an “authentic community” and a “convenient and consumer-friendly approach.”
Collectors on the platform will have the option to store graded cards in Arena Club’s state-of-the-art vault or receive them in protective slabs.
The company says it will provide users with a “quicker, more accurate and transparent grading process through computer vision and machine learning.” It is being advised by Jia Li, an AI Fellow and Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and the former Head of Research & Development at Google Cloud and Snap.
For every card graded on the platform, Arena Club will release a transparent grading report that explains in detail a justification for the grade.
“Arena Club was built by a team of trading card enthusiasts who created the platform with the hobby community in mind,” said Lee, who was the co-founder and CEO of The Honest Co. and LegalZoom.com and is currently the managing partner of BAM Ventures.
“From top to bottom, our team is honest, ethical and fair. Arena Club will transform the collectible world through transparency, authenticity and technology."
Jeter, a 14-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion with the Yankees, was enticed by the opportunity to enhance the future of card collecting.
"I am proud to be part of the team at Arena Club and to work closely with Brian to bring this innovative platform to life,” Jeter said in a press release. "We recognize that there is a real need in the grading industry for clarity, speed and trust, and Brian has put together a team that is committed to providing that to the marketplace.”
Arena Club is also led by Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Jesse Glass, the former CFO and operating partner at BAM Labs, and Vice President of Business Development Warren Laufer, a partner at Mint 10, a venture capital fund that invests solely in sports collectibles. Board members include: Jeremy Liew (Lightspeed Ventures), Neil Sequeira (defy.vc), David Nathanson (Fox Sports) and Board Advisor Ryan O’Hara (former CEO of Topps).
