At the 2000 WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, Kat Fox was asked for her autograph.

Now, Fox doesn’t play in the WNBA. But, in a way, she’s been a key contributor to the league’s growth as the nation’s (and arguably the world’s) single largest distributor of WNBA trading cards through her business, E-TradingCards.com.
“It’s all web-based,” said Fox, a Davis, Calif., resident who is a big fan of the 2005 WNBA champion Sacramento Monarchs. “I sell world-wide (to places like Australia and Japan to name a few). I’ve been willing to sell anything from a case to a card to complete sets or cards of someone’s favorite team. I’ll go down to any quantity. It makes my business unique and it’s given me world-wide success of a niche market. I’ve watched my business grow as the league has grown.”

The current WNBA trading card license is held by Jenkintown, Pa.-based Rittenhouse Archives, Ltd., which took over the production of the cards from Fleer last season. “I’ve got a nice relationship with Rittenhouse and with the league,” said Fox.
The 2006 WNBA cards were scheduled to be released to the public on June 28. Fox reports that Rittenhouse is already sold out of their entire product line. As of early April, Fox had pre-sold over 50 percent of her 2006 inventory.
“I think the quality and coverage of women’s sports, period, has increased,” said Fox, who became involved with WNBA trading cards after seeing them at a Sacramento game back in 1997 (Pinnacle then held the card license). “The college women are getting a lot more coverage and people are following them into the WNBA and I think that has probably increased awareness.”
Fox says her card-purchasing demographic is split 50-50 between men and women.
“Men love the cards,” said Fox, who also sells other women’s sports cards (soccer and golf) as well as bobbleheads, lapel pins and other women’s sports memorabilia. “They love their players and men best understand the value of the cards. They don’t bicker about price.”nFox has seen a shift in card popularity in recent years.

“The players back from 1997 like Sheryl Swoopes, those cards aren’t in demand,” said Fox, a former real estate agent who graduated from Chico State with a business degree and has been a therapist in Davis for 16 years (she also does hypnotherapy).
“When UConn won the college championship in 2002 with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, that’s when there was a huge jump in popularity and growth with the cards. Not to knock the veterans, but today, I couldn’t give away a Lisa Leslie card, but I could get $100 for a Sue Bird.” Fox says she’s surprised at the lack of interest in some of the veteran players, especially the legendary Leslie.
“Lisa baffles my mind,” said Fox. “She’s an incredible role model with things like breast cancer awareness. She’s the epitome of a basketball player. It’s strange. Fans are missing out.” Fox is looking forward to another WNBA season and another batch of WNBA cards. “I’ve been able to provide a great service for this niche,” said Fox. “I’m pretty proud of the success of the niche I have created.”