Call it a walk-off homer for transparency in the world of sports card collecting. Recently, in a move poised to address the longstanding fears and occasional conspiracy theories of collectors and dealers, Fanatics Collectibles presented a bold pitch. The gathering at the Industry Conference in Atlanta served as the field, and CEO Mike Mahan stepped up to the plate to announce that KPMG, a juggernaut in the audit industry, had been tapped to scrutinize the distribution processes of Fanatics/Topps.
Stepping into the spotlight was a proactive decision, aiming to knock out of the park any mumbles and grumbles about perceived favoritism. The industry has been abuzz with murmurs, speculations that Fanatics/Topps might be slanting the chances, delivering the cream of the crop – high-value cards – to their larger clientele or well-known unpackers, known as breakers.
The speculation found fuel in social media videos. Breakers streaming their high-value card hauls to the cyber spectators led to raised eyebrows and accusatory whispers. Were these packs stacked in favor of the breaker? Fanatics Collectibles chief financial officer, Greg Abovsky, brought a dose of reality to the narrative. The frequency of high-value pulls is a matter of probability, he stressed. Breakers, with their hands in a massive volume of packs, are mathematically more likely to land those bounties, not due to a tilted playing field.
Swinging for the fences, Fanatics went a notch higher. They opened the gates of their Texas printing facility to KPMG’s eagle-eyed auditors. Here, they illuminate every nook and cranny of the card creation process. The audit covered an end-to-end review, from the collation process to production logs, ensuring true randomness in Topps’ card distribution. This is no minor-league play – according to Fanatics, a move of this magnitude has never been seen in the industry, marking a home run in their quest for process integrity.
Abovsky, seizing the opportunity, put to rest another long-standing concern. He categorically confirmed that Fanatics had never sprinkled boxes with valuable cards for promo buzz. This business practice, known as seeding, had been another specter haunting collectors. With annual audits now on the calendar, Fanatics Collectibles plans to keep reinforcing its commitment to fair play and processes as transparent as a mint condition card protector.
In the world of sports card collecting, where a highly-coveted card can change hands for astronomical sums, process integrity isn’t a fun add-on. It’s the backbone of the business. The engagement of KPMG by Fanatics is a reality check. It’s an assuring, power-packed swing to knock out allegations and reaffirm a commitment to every collector who dreams of that special pull. This could just be the enduring legacy of Fanatics – putting transparency squarely in the collectible game. It’s proof that no matter how big or small the player, the pack pull is always a fair game, the dream of landing that high-value card – always alive and kicking.
