There is a mystique with sports collectibles. When a team or athlete delivers a performance that fans cherish, they can bottle up those feelings of elation and pride and relive them through visual items commemorating the moment.

Game-worn memorabilia and framed and autographed photos featuring those types of iconic performances from athletes’ careers have become commonplace in men’s sports. They haven’t been as accessible, however, for fans of women’s sports.

Brandon Steiner, founder and CEO of CollectibleXchange, has set out to shift the paradigm, launching an online platform in August that sells memorabilia and merchandise for athletes exclusively in women’s sports. With The Collective Marketplace on Athlete Direct, he aims to highlight the one-of-a-kind athletes and show that there is a market out there for women’s sports memorabilia.

“I’ve always been a fan of trying to appreciate the greatness,” Steiner tells Just Women’s Sports. “When you look at a Sue Bird, or a [Diana] Taurasi, Mia Hamm, Serena Williams, I mean, these are not athletes that will be easily duplicated, and we may never see talent like this again.

“I want people to see that and appreciate it, and that’s the purpose of putting this collection together.”

The Collective Marketplace on Athlete Direct, backed by Wasserman’s women-focused division, The Collective, is athlete-controlled. That means the athletes Steiner works with can manage the commercial value of their exclusive memorabilia.

Among those currently selling game-worn jerseys, licensed products and autographs on the platform are Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. Currently, it’s the only online collectible marketplace dedicated solely to women’s sports.

The venture into women’s sports is new for Steiner, who founded Steiner Sports Marketing & Memorabilia in 1987 and worked primarily with men’s teams and athletes for over 32 years. (Steiner is no longer affiliated with Steiner Sports.)

When reflecting on why he made the jump, one specific moment comes to mind. Six years ago, Steiner was set to receive an award for his involvement in women’s sports. He asked his daughter if she would present him with the honor. She refused and told him he should, too.

“My daughter’s like, ‘No, I’m not giving the award. You haven’t done enough. What have you done? All I see you is making money with men and guys. Yeah, you help coach some women’s basketball and you do a couple of things, but you gotta do more,’” Steiner says.

The moment resonated with the career businessman. Realizing his daughter was right, Steiner vowed then and there to do something that would make an impact in the women’s sports space.

“It was a little bit of a wake-up call, a little bit of a push that I needed to get into this thing, and it started with her,” he says.

Fans of women’s sports have grown accustomed to a lack of merchandise for their favorite teams and players. U.S. women’s national soccer team fans have lamented the shortage of jerseys on the team store. In the WNBA, a league of 144 players, the jerseys of only a select few players were labeled as “ready to ship” this season. The league has taken steps to increase supply after agreeing to a multi-year partnership with DICK’S Sporting Goods, but the concerns persist.

Athletes share fans’ frustrations, Steiner says, and recognize that licensing in women’s sports needs to improve.

The influx of sports memorabilia into the retail space helps, with items on Steiner’s platform ranging beyond soccer and basketball. Fans of April Ross and Alix Klineman, who won beach volleyball gold at the Olympics this past summer, can purchase signed memorabilia from their run in Tokyo. WNBA stars like Bird and Stewart have also taken their collections a step further, putting sneakers up for sale.

“I love Breanna Stewart’s sneakers,” Steiner says. “She’s a sneakerhead, and I love the fact that she’s got fashion.”

Steiner sees record-breaking accomplishments in women’s sports, like Bird and Taurasi’s fifth Olympic gold medal with USA Basketball, and wants them to receive the same attention as their male counterparts.

“It’s not a sidebar thing,” Steiner says, adding that he’d like to see women support women through investment.

“Guys are just into every sport, and they think because they watched something 20 years ago that now they’re an expert on women in sports,” he says. “But women should know. We’re going through a special time now in women’s sports.”

Just as increasing access to women’s sports games and coverage helps draw fans and grow the industry, expanding the market for women’s sports products can strengthen the foundation.

“You have an 11-year-old daughter — man, I want to put a picture of Diana Taurasi in her room rather than a picture of Steph Curry,” Steiner says.

Building the ecosystem of women’s sports, Steiner contends, will create a cycle of investment, demand and growth. The Collective Marketplace on Athlete Direct is part of what makes that possible, all in one place.

“It just puts it in a nice bow and a package,” Steiner says. “I think that’s the stuff that we should be celebrating and enjoying. There’s a lot of greatness, a lot of winning going on.

“My goal is to bring that [greatness] out. And I think you can do that a lot with the collectibles.”

(Editor’s note: The Collective Marketplace on Athlete Direct is a sponsor of Just Women’s Sports)

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @EHruby.

Law enforcement officers made two arrests after anonymous crowd members at five different WNBA games this week disrupted play by tossing green sex toys onto the court.

"It's ridiculous, it's dumb, it's stupid," LA Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said after one of the flying objects nearly hit visiting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during the teams' Tuesday matchup.

"It's also dangerous, and you know, player safety is number one, respecting the game, all those things," she continued.

Each act appears to be the work of different individuals, with one teenage perpetrator reportedly calling it a "stupid prank that was trending on social media."

The first documented incident occurred during a July 29th game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, with copycat incidents then cropping up in Chicago, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

In response, the WNBA released a statement last week, affirming that "The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans."

The league also promised immediate ejection and a one-year minimum ban for anyone who intentionally tosses anything onto a WNBA court, in addition to local arrests and prosecution.

The North Carolina Courage cut ties with head coach Sean Nahas on Wednesday, abruptly announcing the manager's firing ahead of the NWSL team's Friday night match against the Houston Dash.

The brief club announcement noted that the termination was "effective immediately."

"The North Carolina Courage remain focused on the continued development of the team and maintaining a professional, competitive environment for players, staff, and supporters," the team said in a statement.

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Nahas has helmed the Courage since October 2021, first taking over as interim head coach following the firing of embattled ex-manager Paul Riley. The club elevated the now-47-year-old to permanent manager prior to the 2022 season.

Across his nearly four years in Cary, Nahas amassed an overall 36-35-19 record while leading the Courage to two NWSL Challenge Cup trophies and a pair of playoff berths.

A Thursday morning press conference with NC Courage sporting director Ceri Bowley and director of communications Jake Levy did not reveal any specificities surrounding Nahas's dismissal, with Bowley simply saying the decision was based on a "multitude of factors."

"The standards of this club are extremely high, and it was felt that there [were] reasons that we needed to make a change in order to uphold the standards that we expect of the North Carolina Courage," he added.

The Courage currently sit just outside the postseason cutoff line at No. 9 on the 2025 NWSL table.

Assistant coach Nathan Thackeray will lead the team as they travel to Houston to face the No. 12 Dash on Friday.

This year's US Open champions are cashing in, with the pro tennis season's final Grand Slam boosting its overall prize money by 20% — and upping the 2025 men's and women's singles winner's payout to a record $5 million each.

Total player compensation will rise to $90 million across all competitions, making the 2025 US Open the highest-paying tournament in tennis history, with its singles champions banking the biggest payday in the sport's history.

Finalists and semifinalists are also getting a bump, with this year's runners-up cashing $2.5 million checks while semifinalists will walk with $1.26 million each.

In addition, champions of the men's, women's, and mixed doubles competitions will each walk away with $1 million for the first time in US Open history.

In 2024, the New York City Slam's total purse weighed in at $75 million, with singles winners earning $3.6 million each — making this year's $5 million check a 39% raise.

Since then, 2024 US Open champ Aryna Sabalenka and others have spoken out about increasing both payments and transparency in pro tennis, with the sport's Top-20 ranked women and men reportedly co-signing a letter requesting "substantial" purse increases to all four Grand Slams this past April.

While both the French Open and Wimbledon increased this year's overall purses by 5% and 7%, respectively, the US Open "made a deliberate and concerted effort to ensure double-digit percentage increases from 2024 in all rounds of all events for all players," according to the tournament's press release.

Notably, the 2025 Australian Open increased its overall prize pool by over 11%, though that boost came before the players' letter and not all winning categories saw double-digit percentage raises.

The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury are keeping up with the Joneses, rattling off two straight wins against the No. 11 Chicago Sky and No. 13 Connecticut Sun to offset a series of midseason losses.

Phoenix's course-correction has revolved around a surging Alyssa Thomas, with veteran forward recording back-to-back triple-doubles this week.

Notably, this is the third time in her career that Thomas has hit two straight triple-doubles — a feat no other WNBA player has accomplished even once.

"AT's just legendary," Phoenix's Satou Sabally said of her star teammate. "You really have to be ready, and be in the game all the time with her. It keeps your brain on. She will make the right play."

The Mercury will have their work cut out for them on Thursday night, as they prepare to face a stepped-up opponent with revenge on the mind — and a directive to remain atop the WNBA standings:

• No. 3 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 11 Chicago Sky, 8 PM ET (Prime): The Sky snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 78-64 win over No. 10 Washington on Tuesday, but they'll have their hands full against a deep Atlanta side as injured Chicago starter Angel Reese watches from the sideline.

• No. 13 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 9 Los Angeles Sparks, 10 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Sparks host the Sun with a big opportunity ahead, as Wednesday's Golden State loss to Las Vegas opens the door for LA to climb the table — should they continue their winning ways.

• No. 5 Indiana Fever vs. No. 4 Phoenix Mercury, 10 PM ET (Prime): The Fever bested the Mercury just last week, but Phoenix will aim to flip the script as Indiana once again hits the court without injured star Caitlin Clark.