The UNTOLD Story: Licensing Art for Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods & Muhammad Ali

What this episode is about

The discussion focuses on the intersection of art and sports collectibles, emphasizing the uniqueness and scarcity of original artwork related to icons like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Muhammad Ali. The conversation highlights the emotional impact and creative expression of sports art, setting it apart from traditional collectibles.

Key takeaways

• True art is the rarest collectible; it thrives on creativity—not just technique or replication.
• While NFTs flood the market, true artistic value stands out, creating a divide in collectors' preferences.
• AI can mimic, but it can't replace the emotional depth that physical artwork evokes in true collectors.
• Price integrity in art reflects an artist's journey—higher value often comes with genuine collector attachment.
• Original artworks aren't just pieces; they're stories with soul that resonate far beyond mere visual appeal.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ryan Alford (Host) · 11 min speaking
• Justin Ferdano (Guest) · 7 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Justin Ferdano
2. 6:00 – 9:00: ESPN
3. 15:00 – 17:41: Fanofineart.com

Notable quotes from "The UNTOLD Story: Licensing Art for Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods & Muhammad Ali"

• Kelsey brothers. Don't care. I don't care. You can swift this. Justin Ferdano is here with us today.

  about Justin Ferdano · at 1:03

• As a kid, not to sound dated, but like I lived watching, ESPN and the highlights. I love, playing baseball was my thing. I you know played all the way into college.

  about ESPN · at 7:05

• Fanofineart.com and same on social media. It's all ferofart.

  about Fanofineart.com · at 15:50

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Justin Ferdano — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at 1:08
  Featured sports fine artist discussing his creative process, scarcity/value of original art, and how he builds iconic athlete-focused collections.

Companies & orgs

• Fanofineart.com — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 15:50
  Justin's official website where his art is showcased and sold, mentioned as the primary platform for his work.
• ESPN — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at 7:07
  Mentioned as a source of inspiration for Justin's sports-themed art during his childhood.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 the true one of ones, like if you're talking about scarcity and rarity and not being a faximile of something already done, true art like what you do is the true scarcest collectible on earth.

0:14 I want people to feel this is a painting and art that you're looking at, not just the technical side. You want something creative that really wows and and hits the collector a special way. Welcome to the Trading Cards and Collectibles podcast on the Radcast Network. From Chasing Grails to Colin Bluffs and going inside the hobby, are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford. Hello and welcome to Trading Cards and Collectibles here on the Radcast Network. We are your number three sports show on the planet on Apple Podcast. We appreciate you already here in our first 20 episodes hitting the tops of the charts in sports. We're coming for you Kelsey brothers. Don't care. I don't care. You can swift this.

1:08 Justin Ferdano is here with us today. I'm going to tell a little story. Was with the boys at my first national uh back in the hobby and the sport's grown so much and I'm walking around cards and cards and cards. I'm kind of like, all right, am I going to say something different? Then being an art guy, being a marketing guy, being a brand guy. I'm like, who is this? Stumbled upon a badass artist, talented mofo. I'm telling you, Justin is it. What's up, Justin?

1:39 How's it going, man? Hey, man. Love your stuff. I'm a big fan already. I see Michael Jordan behind you. Well, I I appreciate the art of Mahomes, but he's not my uh he's not my favorite player. But all I do know is you're one hell of an artist.

1:53 Thank you, sir. How did you become so damn talented? Well, it was I mean, as a kid, it was kind of noticed real early on just, you know, drawing. I was always into sports. Baseball was my thing, but you know, I still drew tons of athletes growing up. And it was, you know, in school just jotting, you know, or doing a little sketch and kids kind of swarming around and kind of just wowed by what I could do at a real early age. And uh just I mean I've been doing this started the company in 2005 and has really evolved and grown over the years. So

2:32 I'm always curious like with artists like yourself, do you is it okay? Are you one of those that okay if I see this picture here I can recreate it my artistic style or is it just vision of recreation?

2:46 I'll answer two ways from a technical you know standpoint where you're just drawing the figure. Yes. But then there's especially as you see in you know more of what I've created most of the pieces are more telling a story about and there's more creativity than just hey this is a you know some artists are so good that you you know can't tell the difference between a photo and and the painting. I try not to be I try to be that with the figure to a degree but I want people to feel this is a painting and art that you're looking at not just the technical side. You want something creative that really wows and and hits the collector a special way.

3:27 To your exact point, some [snorts] art you look at it and they're so good, you wouldn't know if it was a painting or a photo a photograph.

3:36 Mhm. [clears throat] But there was this subtlety to where it was unmistakably Josh Allen, but there was clear markings art creativity motion fluidity that made it artistic.

3:54 And [clears throat] that to hear you say that, I didn't know that, but I was like, I liked that because again,

4:01 yeah, if I could take a picture, I could take a picture, you know what I I can take a picture of Josh Allen or get a picture of Josh Allen, you know,

4:08 but those subtle art uh things, creativity, things that go whether it's the the brush, you know, like pattern or or whatever it is that makes it art was not lost on me. And I not to shift this, but even like everything you're seeing with AI right now, you're there's this fine line of not losing the artist side to things, right?

4:35 Yeah. Uh there's going to be it's already started. I mean, years ago when you saw this NFT, you know,

4:42 right, lush at everything where there was so much stuff and it wasn't really art. I mean, I didn't buy into it what it was at the time. and and you're going to see just with AI coming into so many things. I do think there's going to be a lot of things [snorts] that are just going to fall because there's so much of it and then you're going to have like the top tier that's going to kind of push that market even higher because of what it is and appreciation. I mean, art's been around forever and and values of things have drastically gone up when they're in that pinnacle, you know, elite, you know, rare item.

5:22 [clears throat] But you're if you're a true collector and again, I mean, you know, Justin Suff is at the the top of the the game. I mean, certain but there's but there's entry points, especially from a price standpoint. You can there different sizes, different things that Justin does. I know you do and you you can talk about that in a bit, Justin. But like the true one of ones, like if you're talking about scarcity and rarity and not being a faximile of something already done, true art like what you do is the true scarcest comm like like collectible on earth.

6:02 Your hand there's an original. might know what my prices were when I first started and have gradually every year like we've gone up. Uh, and there's certain values and price integrity that I keep behind everything and why that's grown. You know, the vast majority of my collectors really, you know, they they love it. There's instances somebody has to sell something, but you don't see my art really on the secondary market much because people have a genuine connection to it. And they also, you know, most artists don't reach, not an arrogant way, but they don't reach an accomplishment till they're older, you know, passed away or whatever. And, you know, we've been hitting that stride up.

6:46 And I I think people also realize, you know, I'm going to be turning 46 in a month that like people are realizing like there's still a long way to go and do see it as a long-term investment with my work.

6:59 Were you always just into sports? Like what what drew you to the sports side of art?

7:05 As a kid, you know, not to sound dated, but like I lived watching, you know, ESPN and the highlights. I love, you know, playing baseball was my thing. I you know played all the way into college but you know that's what drew me and but still like watching Michael Jordan on TV like if that was on WGN I was clicking watching over the moder Saturday mornings I love watching th those programs and seeing the highlights and what some of these athletes could do was just incredible and then try was trying to you know put it on paper like in a drawing or painting of of kind of it was just so cool to me and inspirational Um, and uh, so B, yeah, baseball was definitely something I lived in and I loved creating creating art at the same time. So those are my two passions as a kid. I I mean, early on I I really learned a ton about, you know, the structure and the business side. So I would say I'm very involved in it, but

8:03 I've grown and I've built and, you know, a team around me that is hitting in their areas so I can focus on what I do best.

8:11 Talk to me about your process there. I think that brings up just to a good point for your process of you know original to you know walk us through that how that comes about.

8:21 Sure. Early on when I was doing like some high-profile events I would meet a lot of athletes that would ask for commissions and I would be more open to those. at this stage I it's got to be I already know kind of the projects of who and what I need to do as you know a highprofile you know [clears throat] there's a reason I've done seven or eight Michael Jordan projects is the previous are sold out there's a reason I've done that many Tiger and Jeter Tom Brady projects so when those additions sell out spurs obviously a new piece so the most iconic guys are yes the most expensive but they're the ones that you know are gonna are like your better investments to be honest. But if you're viewing it from that standpoint, but there's people that just love their regional teams and guys. So, uh there's been times in my growth of what I've done where I was like living in Boston and I was doing a lot of Boston athletes

9:15 and Red Sox, a big market. You know, Yankees are still very good market even though I didn't live there, but I have a big collector base of those. But

9:23 how I my process basically is I I want to create the most uh con piece that's going to connect to the collectors in general, not just to one. So what I try to do and even if a piece is commissioned by a collector, they're trusting me to create that mo a moving piece and there might be some back and forth, but they're putting their trust in me and I'm designing in in Photoshop. like do and even before that I'm really doing an image search and looking for you know I'm usually telling a story like you know you can see behind me like that Michael Jordan like most of my pieces there's a main shot that I want to be the most impactful and then a story kind of around it and

10:10 that might be key moments that might be about their city it might be about a nickname anything it could but something that's really going to hit you and I designed that we got a you Dean Mackey on my side handles all of the nil agreements, the approvals with the leagues, all of that business stuff, you know, he handles. So, we got to go through all of that as before I ever put, you know, a pencil down to sk do a sketch and then get into the painting. But once all those happen and I get into the painting process, it's really building up a lot of layers of detail.

10:45 You know, it's building the shapes and the texture. But even when I show somebody something maybe 20% in, they think it's done. And then when you actually see the progression of where that was to where it gets, I mean, that is the difference really with my I feel with my work of differentiates me from the

11:04 It's layered, man. I mean, it's really layered. That was that was when I was looking at Josh Allen, it was not lost on me. I was like, there is incredible layering like and and I mean, that's my word. it earlier too. The flow and the movement. So all of those things and the depth like what you'll see and it's hard to see it on the screen when you see it in person as as you did is like that depth and that life. I mean it really comes to life.

11:30 Do you do card size versions of what you do or is it kind of hard? I have and I don't see myself like I think I don't want there's artists that are very successful in doing that and that's their what they do. I don't think it's something I would jump into like I think it's

11:48 I think it's building off of what I'm currently doing and then kind of implementing maybe that into it.

11:52 So you've got the entertainment stuff coming like what else is kind of on the road map for you as it relates to just art in general.

11:59 It's really I just want to be getting into as big icons that there can be rather than you know in my midc career I was doing regional things there was somewhat more collector. So at the top if somebody was commissioning something and it made sense for it would always have to make sense in my midcareer that it made sense to do a there was be a limited edition complimenting it where now but that could have been a regional player. I'm not really doing that now. What I'm looking is just making deals not just in the main four sports which most of my stuff is baseball football and then done a bunch of projects with the biggest basketball players but the in you know historically but I'm looking to get more into you know can I get a deal with you know Ronaldo or or you know any of the goats in any of these sports or whatever it may be. It doesn't even have to be. It just needs to have a big enough fan base that and the

13:00 distribution and you know marketing behind whatever it is. So that's really my interest. I mean I did a political piece earlier this year. You know if it's going to draw I don't want to take a side on anything I do. Uh even though I may have my own beliefs but you know we we've done you know some projects on with that too. And I think it's important probably to have a balance of both because there's a market for both. But

13:26 yeah, music too. I mean, just looking for things that are more timeless and iconic. Uh doing projects and that's kind of the area that I want to live in versus just doing uh a sole, you know, league or sport. I want to be very diversified in that. and how we market a lot of things today and over the years has been partnerships at a lot of these higherend tier, you know, either charity or or just event hospitality events at Super Bowl, Masters, Kentucky Derby, MLB, you know, Allstar Fanfest and Hall of Fame inductions, things like that.

14:03 Um, but I really do want to open that up more and that maybe is doing, you know, the movie concerts and just different partnerships that where people that can't afford the higher tier. Um, that's kind of the world, you know, of fine art that I'm living in right now. So,

14:18 you know, as we close out, I, you know, I want to hit on that. You know, like you got all this AI going on and and it's great. It's enabling a lot of things, but it can't recreate the vision um and the humanity

14:32 that an artist like you can. And I think that as time goes on, things like what you're doing and your talent are actually more scarce and more valuable because of

14:47 That's where I see it going. I you're going to have a splash of all of that just like with the NFT space that came in. And not to say that there may not be something with that, but I view NFTTS on this side more value in as an authentication on a blockchain versus the the value being behind it. So, I think that with

15:08 the elite artist, you're going to have that appreciation and respect and that's what's going to drive that up that much more. And then it's going to be realized there's so much stuff with the other that if it's that's what it is, that's what's going to, you know, water down, you know, that that side, you know, that market. So, I think it's going to drive up the top tier and then it's going to bring everything every all that other stuff that gets overdone. Uh is just going to draw out and devalue, you know,

15:37 the cream rises to the top and uh your talent definitely has you there, brother. I really uh value what you do. Talk to me about where people listening can learn more about it. Website, handle, social, all that stuff.

15:50 Fanofineart.com and same on social media. It's all ferofart. Justin, that's awesome, man. I really appreciate your time.

15:57 No, Ryan, likewise. Nice chopping up with you. Yeah, man. You're doing some some beautiful stuff and uh I think we should highlight uh again talent like yourself whenever we have the opportunity.

16:09 Wonderful. Be happy to come back on. Hey guys, you to find us collectibleshop.show. We'll have links to all of Justin's amazing work and of course the highlight clips, the full episode, audio and video of this show. And we appreciate you for listening and we appreciate Justin for coming on. We'll see you next time on Trading Cards and Collectibles. Collectibles.show is where you'll find all of the channels and learn more about what we're doing. And ultimately, hey, we want to hear from you. You do case hits at collectibles.show. We want you to send in your favorite pulls of the week. And here's the difference. This isn't about just value. Hey, we want to see some $10,000 hits. had a couple of those myself a few months back. But it's not just about the value. It's about what you're collecting. What means something to you? Share a story. Share a video of you holding up the card that you hit last week that was your favorite

17:00 player and you nailed it. So case hits at collectibles.show. Send in those videos. I want to know the stories. We're going to bring them to life here on the show. We're going to do a segment each week. Once we get rolling and get some videos in where we share that on the show with us. We want to feature you on Collectibles show. Thanks for tuning in to the show. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platform and don't miss the full video version on YouTube. You can find us at www.collectibles.show or follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan Ulford. Now get out there and collect yours.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "The UNTOLD Story: Licensing Art for Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods & Muhammad Ali"?

Ryan Alford (Host), Justin Ferdano (Guest).

What is "The UNTOLD Story: Licensing Art for Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods & Muhammad Ali" about?

The discussion focuses on the intersection of art and sports collectibles, emphasizing the uniqueness and scarcity of original artwork related to icons like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Muhammad Ali. The conversation highlights the emotional impact and creative expression of sports art, setting it apart from traditional collectibles.

What is mentioned in this Collector Nation episode?

3 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Justin Ferdano, Fanofineart.com, ESPN. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The UNTOLD Story: Licensing Art for Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods & Muhammad Ali"?

The episode runs 18 min; the transcript is about 3,217 words in 43 timestamped sections.

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