TCGplayer to acquire Nevada firm, uniting brands in trading-card game industry

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — TCGplayer of Syracuse, a technology platform for the collectibles industry and operator of the largest online marketplace for trading-card games, on Monday said it has agreed to acquire a Henderson, Nevada firm.

The deal to acquire ChannelFireball and BinderPOS is one that brings together the “most iconic brands in the trading card game (TCG) industry,” TCGplayer said in its Monday announcement.

TCGplayer describes itself as the “leading technology platform for the collectibles industry and operator of the largest online marketplace for trading-card games.” It’s located at 440 S. Warren St. in downtown Syracuse.

Launched in 2009, ChannelFireball established itself as a content provider and events coordinator for the TCG industry, TCGplayer said.

The company provided professional strategy advice to millions of TCG collectors, hobbyists, fans, and players, and hosted large-scale competitive tournaments around the world.

In 2020, ChannelFireball merged with BinderPOS — an inventory management and point-of-sale (POS) product for hobby stores — to create CFB Group. Hundreds of retailers around the world now rely on BinderPOS as an inventory-management product, which processes about $200 million of gross merchandise value on an annual basis, TCGplayer said.

TCGplayer expects the transaction to close “in the coming weeks” and the firm will provide an update on the combined entity’s “go-forward corporate structure as integration plans are implemented.”

TCGplayer didn’t release any financial terms of the acquisition deal. Under the terms of the agreement, TCGplayer will acquire CFB Group’s BinderPOS, its ChannelFireball content arm, the ChannelFireball Marketplace and its ChannelFireball Events operating segment. The combination will “deepen the value” TCGplayer, ChannelFireball, and BinderPOS will be able to offer hobbyists, retailers and collectors, allowing the combined company to “unite and integrate its complementary features for the benefit of the collectibles industry,” the firm said.

Additionally, the transaction will accelerate TCGplayer’s vertical-expansion strategy, taking the company beyond its core trading-card game business and into new hobby collectible categories like comic books and sports cards.

TCGplayer currently employs about 600 people and will add about 40 employees and contractors once the transaction closes, TCGplayer tells CNYBJ in an email.