News
THE GOLDIN TOUCH: New Netflix show starring Ken Goldin expected to have big impact on hobby
Seven-figure sales, hanging out with celebrities and being escorted by a personal bodyguard — it’s just another day in the life of Ken Goldin.
The founder and executive chairman of ultra-successful Goldin Co. — formerly known as Goldin Auctions — is used to the limelight. However, what is about to come his way is going to be an avalanche of exposure.
On April 28, Goldin will enter a new stratosphere as a reality TV star when Netflix premieres “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch.”
It’s a series that goes inside one of the top auction houses in the world to provide a glimpse of how crazy the sports card/memorabilia hobby has become for one of the giants of the industry.
Goldin appears on Fox Business twice a month to talk about the hobby and he’s been on QVC and other TV networks in the past. But hitting it big on Netflix with its worldwide reach is a different ballgame for Goldin.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I’m ready for it yet,” Goldin said a couple weeks prior to his show hitting the airwaves. “I don’t know, I don’t feel different. People tell me my life is going to change.”
Goldin was reading a review of “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch” on a reputable online site and it gave glowing remarks, saying the show has the makings of a massive hit.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, God,’” Goldin said. “I’m like telling my wife, I said, ‘Are you ready for this? Are you going to be worried about me when I travel now?’ I’ll have my sports collectible groupies following me, I don’t know.”
Goldin has always been a master promoter of his brand. His name is synonymous with the hobby and he’s never shied away from attention.
Having his own TV show is right up Goldin’s alley.
“The number one reason why I do any type of publicity is to help my business,” Goldin said. “The fact of the matter is I run what used to be an auction house, now it’s a platform. So therefore, the more users you have on that platform, the better prices you get for your collectibles and the more collectibles you get.
“The more I promote my company and the products I’m selling, it has a halo effect over the entire industry. Me talking about sports cards or me talking about a Michael Jordan jersey or me talking about a comic book or me talking about a Babe Ruth game-used bat or Barry Bonds’ game-used bat or a 1979 O-Pee-Chee hockey wax box, just the nature of me talking about it brings new eyes onto the business, brings new people interested in the hobby.”
HOW THE SHOW CAME ABOUT
With the sports card/memorabilia industry booming with sales records constantly being broken during the pandemic, Goldin was in the news all the time.
Goldin, who founded Goldin Auctions in 2012, has sold over $1 billion in the fields of sports cards and memorabilia combined, according to his company’s website.
Connor Schell — who formerly was ESPN’s executive vice president of content and a co-creator and executive producer for the network’s hit series “30-for-30” — started his own production company during the pandemic.
Schell was fascinated by Goldin’s line of work and contacted him about a possible TV show. Since Schell was new to the independent production scene, he sought a partner for the show and reached out to Brent Montgomery.
A reality TV mastermind, Montgomery — who created hit shows such as “Pawn Stars,” “Ball Boys,” “American Restoration,” “Alone,” and “Counting Cars” — was introduced to Goldin.
Montgomery, who owns the production company Wheelhouse with partner Jimmy Kimmel, sent someone to tag along with Goldin on the road for a few days to see what life is like for the sports memorabilia mogul.
“We couldn’t believe the incredible things that were coming in and out — private planes and he just has these direct relationships with people,” said Montgomery, who is an executive producer for the show along with Peyton Manning. “Usually on a Season 1 [of a TV show], you don’t get a ton of celebrities, because they all want to know if the show’s going to be a hit before they do it. The list goes on and on and on for the people that Ken was naturally already in business with.
“I like to joke that the world moves to Ken. Ken’s been doing this for a long time, and it wasn’t the cool, hot thing for a long time.”
A 10-minute video was compiled of a few massive transactions by Goldin, and the top clips were sent to possible show suitors, including Netflix, Discovery and parent company Disney and its big brands ESPN and Hulu.
“We got offers from everybody and my first choice was always Netflix, because I felt that they had the biggest audience and they would give me what nobody else would give me, which was a wide distribution international audience,” Goldin said. “We went with Netflix.”
WHAT TO EXPECT
Season 1 of “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch” will have six 30-minute episodes.
They are sure to be entertaining because of Goldin’s personality and the host of folks he attracts. Since Goldin has been in the industry for more than 40 years, he’s built relationships with plenty of top-notch celebrities. In the first season, Logan Paul, Mike Tyson, Ric Flair, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and Drake all make appearances.
“What is going to interest the hobby, I believe, is that [viewers] will see negotiations on how some of these deals go down,” Goldin said. “They will see the authentication process. They will see the behind-the-scenes look at the auction house. They will see the individuals who are seasoned experts and who know exactly what they have and they simply want to cut the best deals. They will see the young kid who finds something and suddenly he’s going to be a millionaire and never expected it.”
Montgomery is hoping “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch” will hit close to home for those already familiar with the hobby, but it also attract the layman who is interested in learning about the massive industry.
“Because of ‘Drive to Survive,’ that has changed the addressable market for F1 in the United States in dramatic fashion, and I think we want to take the rabid collectors and fans that are already in this space but really add to that,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got Peyton Manning on as well, he’s our partner, and, of course, he has a monster audience. But we don’t just focus on sports cards, because that would be more niche.
“For people that aren’t in this space, they just can’t imagine a little piece of cardboard being worth several million dollars, so we want this show to show the passion, the connectivity between sports and sort of what people will spend on stuff that they are passionate about, whether it be an experience or memorabilia. We really want to explain to the people who don’t get it why they should get it. Giving the globe a behind-the-scenes look at this industry at the highest levels with the biggest characters, and you get to see some huge stars who are just passionate, Logan Paul. You get to see what makes them so excited.”
Goldin believes the impact of his new show is going to send ripple effects throughout the industry.
“In the same way that when ‘Pawn Stars’ came out, it set off kind of a wave of a collectible boom, I think that’s going to happen,” Goldin said. “There is a wide spectrum and these are just some of the topics that have come from the show: sports cards, of course; high-value cards; box breaking; game-used memorabilia; comic books; video games; rock ’n roll memorabilia; historical memorabilia; and even Hollywood. So it’s a very wide spectrum. I think you’re going to see a lot of people become newly interested in collectibles. I think that you’re going to see a lot of people go through their parents and grandparents stuff to see what they have and see what they can find, and I think people are going to want to learn more about the industry and how value is determined.”
Being able to share the stories with an audience that stretches around the world is certainly going to be impactful.
“The idea that we can take parts of what have sort of been an American pastime and share them to a global audience is super exciting,” Montgomery said. “They can learn the story of Jackie Robinson. Everyone knows Martin Luther King, obviously, but not everybody knows Jackie Robinson and that he transcended sports. He’s a big part of our first episode. Just to imagine these players or these entertainers coming to Ken at the right time to pass their treasures I think is something that a global audience will really bite into.”
With so many changes happening in the industry in the last year — including Fanatics acquiring Topps and now advertising cards on TV and in ballparks — having a TV show hit the international market is an important next step in the hobby.
“I can tell you, without mentioning companies, that there are certain well-known individuals at extremely important companies that are unrelated to Goldin in the industry that feel that this is a very important show for the industry and will be supporting it greatly, because they think it will help their overall business,” Goldin said.
Since Netflix is a data-driven business, the company will see how the show paces and will know within a month or two if a second season will be picked up, Montgomery noted.
Goldin is in it for the long haul.
“I think they signed me to a seven-year contract, so I think that they were optimistic about the show,” Goldin said. “They love the idea. Their hope is that this is an annuity for them, that this is a series that they know every year is going to happen. It’s not dependent on creative writing. It’s not dependent on a writer’s imagination. It’s really dependent on product flow, which we have.
“If you think about it, we have tens of thousands, now maybe hundreds of thousands of items that go through Goldin now each year. Let’s say we expand to eight episodes, we just need to pick 40 good items out of the 100,000 that make cool stories. Their hope is that this is an annuity for them, that this is their version of ‘Pawn Stars’ — a higher quality, a higher level of item that is their annuity for honestly as long as I want to do the show.”
