A Collectible Ticket Boom, The Top 100 Online Marketplaces and a Spanish Soccer Invasion

John Wall Street: Event tickets now the fastest growing collectible category
Event tickets have become the fastest-growing category in the sports memorabilia market, with some tickets fetching tens of thousands of dollars at auction. This trend is being driven by several factors, including the rise of online marketplaces and the increasing recognition of tickets as a tangible reminder of a memorable experience. And, of course, the money: “When they started realizing there are 50,000 [graded] Joe Montana rookie cards compared to just three or four known [full] debut tickets, probably his most valuable ticket, that opened their eyes to [the idea] tickets are the way to go,” said one ticketing director. Technology is also playing a growing role in the market, with some companies using blockchain to verify the authenticity of tickets and prevent fraud, and others — like FEVO partner i6 — creating custom collectible credentials for teams, artists and venues on an ongoing or ad hoc basis. (Pro tip: we can help you do exactly that if you're interested.) [Read more]

A16Z: The 100 top consumer-facing marketplaces
Powerhouse VC Andreessen Horowitz just published their Marketplace 100, a report on the top 100 marketplaces in the United States based on factors such as transaction volume, user engagement and growth. The report includes insights and trends as well as profiles of some of the top marketplaces in various sectors such as retail, travel, real estate and others. There are some very interesting takeaways re: how people explore the world of ecommerce. Plus: ticketing is up big time, baby. [Read more]

Axios: La Liga’s North American dream
Less than a decade removed from the glory years of Messi and Ronaldo, Spain’s top soccer division is now desperate to do what the English Premier League has done so successfully: enrapture the American public. And they’re investing big money and time to make it happen, hoping the huge portion of Americans with Hispanic heritage will connect with the league. They’re going big and small, putting together highly focused events in specific cities to build community while brokering large distribution deals with the likes of ESPN and Sky Televisa. [Read more]

And a few more nuggets of assorted internet wisdom:

Apple wants to solve one of music’s biggest problems: streaming classical music (WSJ)

Ticketmaster goes live with NFT-gated features (Blockworks)

Telfar’s radical new pricing system is the ultimate anti-luxury move (Fast Company)

How Apple made unpacking the iPhone a ritual rather than a chore (Retail Brew)

Slamball is back and we couldn’t be more excited (The Big Lead)

Everything you need to know about the NHL-Fanatics jersey deal (ESPN)

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