Pro hoops legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is launching a sports memorabilia company and he’s using Amazon.com to help him make money.
The 7-foot-2 Hall of Famer just launched Starguard Collectibles in a partnership with Iconomy Multimedia & Entertainment to offer autographed collectibles on an Amazon storefront.
The new company prides itself on authenticity and uses a patent-pending thumbprint process with a notarized signature — in addition to videos, photographs, ID numbers and an online database verification system — to ensure that customers are receiving items signed by real sports heroes.
When asked why he chose Amazon over other online retailers like eBay, Abdul-Jabbar told CNBC that he liked how the Seattle company is perceived worldwide.
“Amazon is trying to expand the types of things they do and it was a great opportunity for myself and my business partners to work with a company with that type of reputation and impact in the market,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
The six-time NBA champion said that he founded Starguard Collectibles because of all the counterfeit items in the sports world.
“It’s a real problem, and by starting this up with Amazon we feel we’ll be able to fill a niche and bring something interesting and exciting to people who like to collect memorabilia,” he told CNBC.
