Replay Sports Cards has company-owned shops in Charlotte, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina and Boca Raton, Florida.
Throughout his two-decade career in franchising, Mike Weinberger developed a passion for growing and scaling emerging brands.
Weinberger and his team at Denver-based Community Franchise Group believe their latest venture, the franchise launch of Replay Sports Cards, is ready to take the lead in an industry that’s experiencing a resurgence.
“The sports card industry has been on the upswing ever since the pandemic and it continues to grow at a pretty good clip. We are ready to get in the market with the first-ever sports card franchise,” said Weinberger, the founder and managing partner of Replay Sports Cards. He anticipates filing its franchise disclosure document within the next two months.
Weinberger and three partners, including Mike Martin and Brent Schepel, operate three company-owned Replay Sports Cards locations in Charlotte, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina and Boca Raton, Florida. He said their three shops, which were called One Stop Sports prior to a rebrand in April, had cumulative sales over the last 12 months of just over $2 million with the average transaction being about $180.
He said the investment range for Replay Sports Cards is going to be $200,000 to $400,000, which includes a $50,000 franchise fee. He said the franchise investment includes real estate costs for a 1,000 to 2,000 square foot shop and about $100,000 in card inventory.
Mike Weinberger is the founder and managing partner of Community Franchise Group, which has ownership stakes in Replay Sports Cards and Tapster.
“The shop spaces can vary in size depending on the layout and the location, but the bigger number is opening the shops with a healthy inventory of cards to draw customers,” Weinberger said. “The other big piece of the business is an e-commerce site that we have and where franchisees can sell their cards on.”
Weinberger said Replay Sports Cards sells cards starting at $1 apiece and go up to $20,000 or more. He pointed out that a number of trading card companies have entered the market and are featuring limited edition sets that are in high demand with serious collectors. Rare and rookie cards of hall of famers in pristine condition also fetch top prices.
A 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card that went for $12.6 million is the most expensive sports trading card sold at auction to date. Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth cards have sold for $7.25 million and $7.2 million, respectively.
Weinberger said that collectibles and sports cards market are growing at a 15 percent to 20 percent annual growth rate. He shared an industry report from Yahoo Finance that showed the global sports trading cards market is projected to grow from $12.9 billion in 2023 to $27.6 billion by 2033.
“Our shops attract everyone from the serious collector to the neighborhood kid who’s just starting out and collects cards as a fun hobby,” said Weinberger who exhibited at the Fanatics Fest in New York City in August to help drum up interest in franchising opportunities. “We’re really focused on teaching kids the value of the dollar, teaching them how to respect their property and understanding how to trade cards.”
Weinberger founded Community Franchise Group, a franchise invest group that provides hands-on support primarily for emerging brands, last year. He was the co-founder and chief franchise officer for cannabis dispensary Unity Rd. from 2018 to 2022 and CEO and brand president for Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees and Smoothies from 2013 to 2018.
Along with Replay Sports Cards, Weinberger is working on growing another brand, Tapster, a self-serve bar that was founded by Roman Maliszewski in 2017. He said they have two Tapster bars in Seattle and single locations in Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland, which was the site of the first franchise unit last summer. Rcently, a franchisee signed a lease for another Tapster in Lexington, Kentucky.
“You come in, swipe your card, have a beer or wine, cocktails or non-alcoholic drinks and you leave when you want. You don’t have to deal with service. There’s no kitchen, so there’s no hood or vents,” Weinberger said. “Instead of BYOB, meaning bring your own beer, it’s BYOF, bring your own food.”