Annemarie Farrell

The professor helping women's sports find their place in the card hobby

Annemarie Farrell studies why people become fans. Through Women on Topps, she helps turn that interest into collecting.

At Stonehill College, Farrell teaches the business of sports. In the card community, she shares women's sports history, introduces collectors to athletes and releases, and encourages people to consider whose achievements deserve a place on cardboard.

The connection is central to her work: understanding what draws people to sports, then creating opportunities for them to take part.

From studying fans to teaching the business

Farrell joined Stonehill in 2024 after 18 years at Ithaca College. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Mount Holyoke College and a master's degree and doctorate in sport management from Ohio State University.

Her teaching and research focus on sports marketing, sales and consumer behavior. She examines how fandom reflects cultural and economic changes, with women's sports spectatorship a recurring subject of her scholarship.

Putting students in charge

At Ithaca, that work included giving students responsibility for real business operations. For the 2019 Cortaca Jug football game, a student team led by Marco Fontana ran on-campus ticket sales and sold 2,785 tickets.

Farrell recalled signing emails as "Marco's assistant" and directing operational questions to him. The project earned Ithaca's School of Business recognition in AACSB's 2020 Innovations That Inspire initiative.

Fontana described her approach as "curriculum to career." It is a useful description of a professor who asks students to put their knowledge to work while they are still learning.

Building Women on Topps

Farrell launched Women on Topps in 2020, creating a home for women's sports cards, collecting history and humor. Her custom card concepts draw attention to athletes and moments that have yet to receive the cardboard treatment she believes they deserve.

The interest reaches back to childhood. In a June 2026 Topps interview, Farrell recalled the significance of seeing female athletes on Sports Illustrated for Kids card sheets. She also described a 1954 Phil Rizzuto card that reminds her of attending Yankees games with her father.

Cards helped support her education, too. In 1996, she sold most of her men's sports collection to help pay for college, including three Michael Jordan rookies.

Her involvement now includes a donation initiative. In that same interview, Farrell said it had distributed more than 150,000 women's sports cards to children, teams, classrooms, camps and new collectors.

Reaching collectors through writing

In January 2026, Farrell examined the first year of PWHL cards for The Athletic. Republished by Yahoo Sports, the article connected her collecting experiences with demand and rookie-card definitions in a new league.

Bringing athletes and collectors together

At the 2024 National Sports Collectors Convention, Farrell opened Parkside's 1999 Jubilee cards with Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Michelle Akers. The appearance connected collecting with the players' perspectives on the growth of women's sports.

She has also worked with Harvard Athletics to distribute thousands of women's sports cards at a women's hockey game celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It was a direct way to introduce fans to the hobby and the cards available to them.

A coach's understanding of community

Farrell's experience in sports extends to the sidelines. She spent 15 years coaching Ithaca's men's rugby team, a commitment that began when a student asked her to help revive the program.

In a public reflection, she recalled initially offering to help for one semester. That became a decade and a half. Looking back, she thanked players for building a program that valued kindness alongside competitive success.

That experience adds another dimension to her collecting work. She has spent years helping people participate in sports as students, athletes and fans - roles that give her a broad view of how sporting communities form.

What's next?

Farrell's recent work gives a sense of where her interests are taking her. Her coverage of PWHL cards follows a developing collecting market, while her discussion with Minnesota Frost player Taylor Heise for the CollectHer podcast explored the experience of becoming an athlete young fans look up to.

Both subjects connect the sports business to the personal experience of following an athlete and collecting their cards.

Why Annemarie Farrell matters to the card industry

Farrell brings several perspectives to the same conversation. As a professor, she studies sports consumers. As a collector and writer, she examines products and the stories they preserve. Through events and donations, she helps people discover women's sports cards for themselves.

Her work offers a practical way to develop interest in collecting: help fans discover cards, learn about athletes and feel welcome asking questions.

A card can introduce someone to an athlete. A classroom opportunity can open a career. Farrell's work helps people find their place in sports.