Fanatics buys Oregon-based sports card company PWCC

Lake Oswego sports card company PWCC Marketplace has been sold to Fanatics Collectables, a sports memorabilia company based in New York. Although the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Fanatics has confirmed that all 125 PWCC employees will remain with the company after the transaction. Founded in 1998, PWCC is a popular hub for collectors looking to buy and sell trading cards, and also operates a vault in Oregon where customers can store their collections. However, PWCC has faced accusations in the past of manipulating the value of the cards it sells. The company was removed from eBay in 2001 due to allegations of “fraudulent bidding”, and earlier this month it laid off 30 employees, primarily in Oregon. Fanatics has licensing deals with every major North American sports league and last year acquired Topps’ trading card line. The company is also expanding into sports betting, having recently signed a deal to acquire the US operations of the online sportsbook Pointbet for $150m. Fanatics said in a statement: “By introducing them to Fanatics Collectibles, we have the opportunity to further build and strengthen the foundation that exists today, and ultimately provide more value to our fans/collectors.”