Tom Brady renews love for sports cards with new card shop in Wrigleyville
CHICAGO—Tom Brady was front and center as plenty of smiles and laughs lit up the room.
Alongside nearly half the Chicago Cubs team, the NFL legendary quarterback tore open a case of 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball.
Cubs pitcher Justin Steele—who is a huge card collector—hit paydirt on his first pack; the top card was a case hit. That was an omen for a good night ahead.
“Daddy got it,” Steele joked with a teammate.
Brady was in Chicago on Thursday to open up his sixth CardVault by Tom Brady shop in Wrigleyville, right across from historic Wrigley Field. Brady and his business associates held a preview event and ribbon cutting to celebrate the store’s grand opening.
“It’s a very special night,” said Chris Costa, co-founder and managing partner of CardVault by Tom Brady. “Wrigley Field is obviously super iconic and it’s a super important space for us.”
Added Brady: “The first time I was here I was in college—I went to Michigan, obviously—we’d come down here, because this is where all the good tans happen in the summer. So, we had it going on down here.
“But, obviously, for us to be here right across from this amazing stadium and we’ve got a lot of collectors here I heard on this [Cubs] team. It’s a perfect spot for us.”
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The Wrigleyville location is CardVault by Tom Brady’s sixth store, the first in the Midwest. There are three shops in the New England area, one in New York City and one in New Jersey.
“CardVault is very excited to be in Wrigley and we said, what better way to kind of christen the store than to rip some baseball packs with the Cubs,” Costa said.
Cubs players Steele, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Justin Turner and others ripped packs with Brady on the counter near the store’s cash register. The store is flooded with artwork on the walls of Chicago greats such as Michael Jordan, Walter Payton and Mike Ditka. Crow-Armstrong has a large mural in the store, and the star rookie autographed his piece.
On a day when the Cubs didn’t have a game, seven players—Crow-Armstrong, Tucker, Shota Imanaga, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, Matt Shaw and Michael Busch—signed autographs at the National Sports Collectors Convention in the Chicago suburb Rosemont. In past years when The National has been held in Rosemont, active Cubs have never been able to sign due to in-season obligations.
Turner told SCD there are a number of Cubs players that collect cards. Crow-Armstrong added that the guys love to rip packs in their clubhouse.
POSITIVE IMPACT
Brady, who owns a 50% share in CardVault, is hoping he can make a positive impact on the hobby through his card shops.
“I just think as it continues to grow, CardVault by Tom Brady is just a great, credible resource for any collector,” Brady told SCD. “These communities and what sports do, like Wrigley Field or at Patriots Place, what our store there does, it’s always about bringing people together. Nights like this and to have a community of people that have a shared experience, it’s pretty awesome.”
Brady is one of a number of high-profile athletes entering the hobby in the last five years. Former MLB superstar Derek Jeter is an owner in the grading company Arena Club, current MLB star Bobby Witt Jr. is an investor, advisor and ambassador for the card app Collx, and NFL Hall-of-Famer Brian Urlacher is an investor in the card app Ludex.
Brady is happy to be involved in the industry with other big names.
“And more to come,” Brady told SCD. “I think we all enjoy being involved in sports. We were all kids at one point and we were inspired by a generation of players that were a little bit older than us and it kind of engrained a love of like this guy (pointing to a Ryne Sandberg card he just pulled). I used to love Ryne Sandberg, Ryno. That’s what they do, look at Randy Johnson. These are all the guys that inspired me to kind of reach for the stars. That’s what it’s all about.”
Brady isn’t just getting into collecting; he’s renewing his love of the hobby.
“I started when I was 7 years old,” Brady told SCD. “All the money that I made when I was a kid went to my baseball card collection. Then I collected a lot of football cards when I got into the pros. Now, [I’m] just working with some great guys.”
What does Brady’s personal collection look like these days?
“Anything I can get my hands on. I talk to my consigliere right here,” Brady said pointing to Costa. “I go after things that are good value.”
“Cooper Flagg is somebody that we’re after right now,” Costa said.
“Everyone’s looking for Cooper Flagg,” added Brady.
RIPPING 2000 BOWMAN CHROME
Earlier in the day at The National, Brady made an appearance at the Topps booth. He addressed a massive crowd that wanted to get a glimpse of the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
Brady ripped open six packs of 2000 Bowman Chrome, which contains his rookie card. Brady remembers when his first professional card hit the market a quarter century ago.
“When I was coming out, there were a lot of soon-to-be draft picks doing trading card deals with companies like Topps and Panini back then,” Brady told the crowd. “I would sign cards, and they would offer me like 20 cents a card to sign. Of course, when you’re a college kid and you’re making like $370 on a scholarship check a month, 20 cents goes a long way—especially when you’re looking for some fun weekend activity to buy a beer for all your friends.
“Of course, so I tried to sign as many as I could for those 20 cents and I’d make a couple thousand dollars at a time. I thought it was the most unbelievable thing ever. Now when I see [the card], it brings back quite a few memories. My cards are a little more expensive now, but I think if you got ahold of them, [they’re] part of a great collection now.”