Blake Martinez Makes Bank on Pokémon Cards After Retiring From the NFL
Pokemon and the NFL aren’t two things your brain usually links, but Blake Martinez may change that forever. The former
Ivy Griffith
Pokemon and the NFL aren’t two things your brain usually links, but Blake Martinez may change that forever.
The former linebacker retired from the NFL in 2022, and turned to a beloved side hustle for a post-retirement career.
As it turns out, it was a lucrative move. A really, really lucrative move.
Blake Martinez Makes Pokemon Bank
In the 6 months since Martinez walked away from his 7-year run as a star NFL linebacker, he’s done pretty darn well for himself.
New York Post reports, “CNBC Make It reported that Martinez has made more than $5 million in the seven months since launching Blake’s Breaks, his company that sells Pokémon cards on the platform Whatnot. It was a side venture that Martinez had reportedly started during the COVID-19 pandemic, but his personal connection with Pokémon cards dates back to when he was younger and collected them.
‘Every single day when I wake up, my shoulder doesn’t hurt and my back doesn’t hurt anymore,’ Martinez told CNBC Make It. ‘When all that hurts are my fingers from opening, like, 1,000 packs of cards per day, I think, ‘I’m going to keep doing this.’”
Martinez is able to put one quarter of the money he makes back into his company, and take the remaining amount home as profit for himself and his 15 contract employees.
It sounds bizarre, right?
Retire from the NFL and turn into a serious Pokémon card guru – although he got started on that path well before he retired.
But Martinez is making it work, and inspiring children everywhere to chase their dreams. Whether those dreams are on the field or across the battle table.
The Unstoppable Draw of the Pokémon Card
Whether you love the nostalgic feel of a Pokémon card in your hands, have an obsession with the strongest (or cutest) Pokémon, or collect the cards to be the very best (like no one ever was), Pokémon cards are here to stay.
The overwhelming international and decades-long success of Pokémon cards has been almost baffling, but there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.
As people like Martinez prove, every day.
Travel and Design explains, “Collecting and trading cards is a unique hobby both for kids and adults. We don’t need to be surprised by this fact because long before computers and YouTube, playing with cards and trading them has been amongst the best interests for all kids. Some adults say that now they have a chance to collect all the cards they craved as kids.
Also, statistics say that the popularity of Pokemon cards has grown since the release of the video game Pokemon Go in 2016. Even though it had mixed reviews and many critics because of technical problems and security concerns, it got downloaded more than 500 million times in 2016. As a result, it became one of the most profitable games in that year.
Rarest of the rare has always been attractive, and the same is with the Pokmon cards. Since it is a global phenomenon, the attraction is even more significant – who has the rarest Pokemon card in the world? This question is still waiting for the answer, and, undoubtedly, the card craze will not end anytime soon.”
So not only can you make big money buying and trading the cards, but they come with that sweet nostalgic factor for ’90’s kids and beyond.
With multiple cartoons, movies, games and endless merchandise deals, Pokemon has become a massive phenomenon beloved by children and adult of all ages.
And for people like Martinez, turning your love for the game into a lucrative career is the best of every world.