From WWE to Trading Cards: Building the Low-Fee Marketplace Collectors Deserve

Rob Kligman is the Chief Revenue Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc. and the founder of Collectible Lane — a low-fee, AI-powered collectibles marketplace built to give collectors back control. In this episode, Rob draws on 30 years of advertising and sponsorship experience to break down how he built an authoritative brand voice before the app ever launched, why storytelling and FOMO are the only marketing engines that work in collectibles, and why his 6-to-9-month goal isn't to beat eBay — it's to earn the loyalty of 1% of the market. Topics Discussed  Rob's 30-year career in advertising and sponsorship at MTV Networks, WWE, and Fortune 500 brand campaigns  The founding insight behind Collectible Lane: inflated prices caused by seller fees pushing buyers to overpay  Passion-point lane structure — dedicated ecosystems for trading cards, video games, comic books, and more  'Behind the Lane' branded entertainment arm: using storytelling to create FOMO around collectible items  Pre-launch content strategy: 6 months of snackable 15–20 second videos on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook  AI-powered listing in under 10 seconds: how the platform pivoted to remove the biggest friction for sellers  PSA and CGC grading partnerships as an anti-fraud and confidence-building mechanism for buyers  Remote-first team of ~5 people across the US and India building toward a US-only Phase 1 launch