Pokemon is the #1 media franchise in the world. Here's a look at the next 136 highest grossers.

TL;DR

Analysis of 137 top-grossing media franchises identifies 97 untapped pinball licensing opportunities.

Summary

Key Claims

• Pokémon is the #1 highest-grossing media franchise in the world, nearly doubling the next highest earner

  high confidence · Post cites Wikipedia's list of top-grossing media franchises; Pokémon confirmed as Stern's recent release

• Of 137 media franchises that have grossed over $2 billion, only 39 have had pinball machines made

  medium confidence · User's analysis based on Pinside entries for official physical releases; acknowledges some subjectivity in categorization

• 97 of the top-grossing franchises do not have pinball machines

  medium confidence · Derived from 39 of 137 having pinball games; based on Pinside database entries

• Stern's last 2 releases are the #1 and #4 biggest franchises in the world

  high confidence · Pokémon confirmed as #1; other release implied but not explicitly named in excerpt

Notable Quotes

• “With Stern's last 2 releases being the #1 and #4 biggest franchises in the world, I decided to look at that list to see if there are any standout IPs that have not yet had a pin.”

  /u/w0lfbiker — Frames the analysis motivation and underscores the scale of IP Stern has recently secured

• “Pokemon nearly doubled the next highest earner.”

  /u/w0lfbiker — Emphasizes Pokémon's dominant position in global media franchise revenue

Entities

Signals

• ?

  competitive_signal: Stern's acquisition of Pokémon (#1) and another top-4 franchise demonstrates aggressive IP licensing strategy targeting mega-franchises

  high · Stern's last 2 releases are #1 and #4 highest-grossing franchises globally

• $

  market_signal: Large untapped market of 97 high-revenue franchises without pinball machines suggests significant licensing opportunity for manufacturers

  high · 97 of 137 top-grossing franchises ($2B+) do not have pinball machines despite proven commercial success

• ?

  licensing_signal: Analysis identifies specific high-revenue IP categories most viable for pinball (family icons, video games, anime, live-action) based on demographic alignment

  medium · User categorizes 97 untapped franchises by type after filtering for pinball demographic relevance

Topics

Sentiment

neutral(0.5)— Post is analytical and data-driven, presenting an organized breakdown of franchises without strong emotional valence. Closing question seeks community input rather than advocating a position.