Lewis Hamilton to open international chain of trading card shops

Sports Memorabilia and Collectibles Lewis Hamilton (center) with Michael Rubin (left) at the opening of Fanatics' London shop in 2025. Photo courtesy of Fanatics Share articleSeven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has joined with leading trading card retailer Dave & Adam’s Card World to launch Card Culture by Lewis Hamilton. The joint venture will see trading card stores donning Hamilton’s name opening in locations outside of North America. Beginning with Germany in June 2026, the partnership is targeting Australia, the United Kingdom, and cities in the Middle East and Asia over the next five years. “Ultimately, I’ve seen there’s a huge gap. There’s over a thousand stores across the U.S., I think there’s a fraction of that in the rest of the world,” Hamilton told The Athletic. “I really wanted to look into how I could build a home for collectors, players, and kids who want that feeling of opening packs and being part of a community and not just a place that sells products. So I was trying to figure out who I could do that with.” This announcement comes after NFL legend Tom Brady bought a 50 percent stake in Boston-based card shop chain CardVault, which was then renamed CardVault by Tom Brady. The chain now has 14 locations across the United States. “I know Tom really well. He’s a friend and I’m honored to know him, such a legend,” Hamilton said. “We haven’t caught up and talked about his card business.” Instead, Hamilton said he’s consulted Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin on the topic. Hamilton was on hand for the opening of Fanatics’ flagship collectibles shop in London last year, which has proven successful in a part of the world where trading cards were once an afterthought. Hamilton said he and Rubin then spoke about the card business while in Los Angeles earlier this year. “Fanatics leadership reached out and said that CEO Michael Rubin wanted to talk to me,” said Adam Martin, owner and CEO of Dave & Adam’s. “And Michael basically says, ‘Hey, you see what we’re doing here with CardVault with Tom Brady, where we’re opening up stores all around the U.S., and Tom Brady is a big part of it, helping grow the hobby in the U.S.? Would you be interested in doing the same thing with Lewis Hamilton?’ And I hesitated a beat and I said, ‘Absolutely.’” “I got to meet with Adam, and it was really quite cool to sit and have a conversation with him and just see across the table, someone that reflected the kid in me,” Hamilton said. “My younger self, and I could see his younger self, just this avid card collector. He advises me on things I could buy.” Hamilton has been buying up cards around the world for his own collection in recent months, showing off some items on social media. “He loves cards. He went around and bought hundreds of Pokemon cards in Japan,” Martin said. “And then he’s telling me, ‘I bought all these cards.’ It was really, really funny.” So what’s in Hamilton’s collection? “I’ve probably got about five hundred valuable Pokémon cards,” the Ferrari driver said. “I have an old Neo Destiny box that’s not been opened from 2002, which is kind of crazy. My favorite Pokémon would probably be Raichu. I’m waiting for the new Star Wars release because I love Star Wars. Huge Star Wars fan. Massive, massive, massive Star Wars fan. I’m building the Millennium Falcon actually still in Lego. One of my dearest friends, and I’m honored to be able to say, to call a friend, is George Lucas. I get to speak to the actual man who created it and I love quizzing him about it and learning about what the Force is all about.” Beyond Pokèmon and Star Wars, Hamilton has also developed a focus on American sports cards after mainly collecting football (soccer) cards as a kid. “I want to get a Mickey Mantle card, but I’m just waiting for the right one to come up,” Hamilton said. “I’m looking to get a Michael Jordan card. I’d love to get a Tom Brady card. The other one I’d really like to get would be Shohei Ohtani. I haven’t got any One Piece yet. I’m not an expert at this, so I’m constantly learning. I’ve got a group chat with people that are specialists in this space, and we’re texting every day.” “He genuinely cares about it, and I don’t think that’s necessarily the case with everybody who’s in this business and so it makes being a partner with him that much better,” Martin said. “We hope that really comes through in our stores, that people understand that this is a passion project for Lewis. Because he genuinely loves collecting, loves cards, and now we’re going to go all around the world.” With global interest in trading cards and collectibles growing, Hamilton believes there is now  “more of a demand for it than ever.” “It’s not a shock to anyone that we’ve taken a good hard look at the UAE and Saudi Arabia, at Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” Martin said. “That part of the world is really starting to develop. So we felt that that region would be important to open a store in. Unfortunately, we’re on hold a bit because of everything that’s happening there. But we think that’s a natural fit for us. And Lewis absolutely loves Dubai personally. It’s one of his favorite places to go. So it would only make sense that, hopefully when things have calmed down there a bit, it will be one of the next places we will look at.” While still a couple months away from the first Card Culture by Lewis Hamilton shop opening in Frankfurt, Hamilton is already thinking big about the business. “My goal is to build a modern card store that mixes community, culture, and competition in a market that has demand for thousands of stores, but barely any real homes for collectors outside of the U.S.” const eBayApiUrl="https://api.theathletic.com"; The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Andy Mackie contributes to The Athletic's sports collectibles coverage across the trading card hobby. You can find him on Instagram at @collectcardsuk. Follow Andrew on Twitter @ndymack