The major trading card authenticators graded more than 26 million cards in 2025, according to year-end data released by grading tracker GemRate.
According to GemRate, which tracks population reports for PSA, CGC, SGC, Beckett, TAG and others, collectors graded 26.6 million cards in 2025 — the most recorded in a single year by GemRate since its launch in 2022.
GemRate | 2025 Grading Year in Review
— GemRate (@gemrate) January 3, 2026
— 26.8 million cards were graded across the major graders in 2025. Total cards graded were ⬆32% compared to 2024 (20 million).
— 16.8 million TCG/non-sport cards (⬆95% YoY) and 10.0 million sports cards (⬇12% YoY) were graded in 2025.… pic.twitter.com/0513T4379s
PSA led the way among the major authenticators with 19.26 million cards graded, which represented a 26% increase year-over-year.
CGC Cards finished second among the major graders with 4.92 million cards graded.
SGC graded 1.42 million, Beckett graded more than 824,000, and TAG graded more than 440,000.
Last year’s grading totals represented all-time records in a single year for PSA, CGC and TAG.
PSA captured 72% of the overall market share, including 76% of sports cards and 69% of TCG.
Following recent acquisitions of SGC and Beckett, PSA parent company Collectors and its brand held roughly an 80% market share in 2025.
Largely driven by interest in Pokémon cards, TCG and non-sports grading (16.8 million) overtook sports card grading (10 million) in 2025. Pokémon was the year’s most popular single category with more than 16.1 million cards graded. Baseball finished with 3.6 million, football with 3.0 million and basketball with 2.1 million.
PSA’s record year arrived alongside massive changes for the company, which included a lucrative partnership with video-game retailer GameStop. PSA and GameStop first partnered in May 2024 with the retailer buying PSA-graded cards for cash or store credit.
The two brands expanded the relationship in October 2024 when GameStop began accepting grading submissions at select retail locations. That collaboration hit 1 million graded cards in May 2025, and has proven to be especially profitable for GameStop, which now counts collectibles among its biggest revenue drivers.
CGC Cards’ 4.92 million cards represented the largest percentage growth among the major graders with a 121% increase year-over-year. That growth was largely driven by the company’s success among Pokémon collectors — CGC captured 25% of the TCG market in 2025, second behind only PSA.
SGC had the largest decrease in business last year, with its 1.42 million cards a 24% drop year-over-year. Acquired by Collectors in February 2024, SGC began to see a sharp decline in monthly grading volume following the resignation of prescient Peter Steinberg in July.
PSA president Ryan Hoge, who now oversees grading operations for both PSA and SGC, said in July that SGC would be scaled down into a “boutique” brand.
Beckett Grading Services’ more than 824,000 graded cards last year is the most during the GemRate era and a 26% increase year-over-year. The majority of Beckett’s business came from TCG and non-sports collectors, with hobbyists often coveting the brand’s elusive BGS 10 Black Label — a grade given only to cards with perfect 10 scores for centering, corners, edges and surface.
Beckett’s grading services, media and magazines businesses were acquired by Collectors in December.
TAG, which touts its use of technology over manual grading by humans, graded more than 440,000 cards in 2025 for an 83% increase year-over-year.
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Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the collectibles editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.