The top 10 most expensive pieces of sports memorabilia ever sold. (Note: This list does not include sports cards.)
1. Babe Ruth “Called Shot” jersey: $24.12 million
The Babe Ruth “Called Shot” jersey auction will go down in history, not only because of its record-shattering $24.12 million price tag, but due to the countless headlines about the sale in mainstream media outlets. The buzz was palpable in the lead-up to the auction for the jersey, which was said to be worn by Ruth during the oft-debated “Called Shot” home run.
The jersey was first discovered around 1990, when it sold for $150,000. At the time it was purported to be the “Called Shot” jersey, however, the provenance was hardly ironclad.
The next time it sold, in 1999, the jersey was no longer described to be from the “Called Shot,” instead merely a 1930 uniform (the “Called Shot” took place during the 1932 World Series). It sold for $284,000 and was loaned to the Babe Ruth Museum, which displayed the jersey as a 1930 Ruth gamer, no longer referencing the famous home run.
Finally, in 2005, a New Jersey ophthalmologist named Dr. Richard Angrist bought the jersey for $940,000.
Angrist sought out a photo-match, a type of authentication which uses images from the game to compare small details on the item to determine whether or not it is indeed the same. In recent years, photo-matching has taken off, with many collectors considering jerseys lacking such documentation to be a death knell.
From 2019-2022, Angrist sent the jersey to Resolution Photomatching (one of the leading companies in the space) three times, receiving notice that the jersey was unable to be matched to the “Called Shot” each time.
Angrist then submitted the jersey to another company called End-to-End. Little known in the industry at the time and lacking any discernible history of matching valuable jerseys, the company returned a match in 2022.
The next year, MeiGray (another leader in the space, along with Resolution) joined in on the determination, issuing a match of its own.
Soon after, collectible authenticator PSA acquired End-to-End in a surprising move, considering the company’s limited history.
Despite disagreements over the legitimacy of the match, the jersey obliterated the all-time record for a piece of sports memorabilia.
2. Michael Jordan “Last Dance” jersey from Game 1 of 1998 NBA Finals: $10.1 million
Most would agree the “Last Dance” docuseries, which told the story of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 championship season, was a massive catalyst for Jordan’s collectibles. More specifically, items with a connection to the “Last Dance” season, such as the jersey worn by Jordan in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, have soared to record heights.
The jersey is one of just two Jordan jerseys from NBA Finals to sell publicly, the other being from Game 3 of the same series, which sold in 2015 for a little less than $105,000.
3. Diego Maradona jersey from "The Hand of God" goal in 1986 World Cup: $9.28 million
While Diego Maradona was undoubtedly a generational talent and ranks among the greatest athletes in history, his appearance on this list behind only Ruth and Jordan might seem a bit shocking.
However, his controversial “Hand of God” goal in the quarterfinal of the 1986 World Cup, followed by the “Goal of the Century” in the same game, built the Argentinian into a national hero, gaining cult-like status few athletes could ever dream of.
That love from his home country combined with what many consider the most iconic play in the history of the sport create the perfect cocktail to make his game-worn jersey a coveted piece of history.
The ball from the match also was set to auction in 2022. However, it failed to meet its reserve despite bids surpassing $2 million.
4. Original Olympic Manifesto: $8.8 million
Pierre de Coubertin’s handwritten manifesto for the revival of the Olympic Games, which he delivered as a speech to an audience in Sorbonne, France, in 1892, outlined his plans for the modern Olympic Games as we know them.
The speech is particularly memorable for its well-crafted articulation of sport as a form of unity.
In the speech, he says scientific and technological innovation has been more effective at bringing peace than any diplomatic attempts, and he hopes sports can do “even more.”
“Those who have seen 30,000 people running through the rain to attend a football match will not think that I am exaggerating,” Coubertin said.
After his death in 1937, all of his possessions were donated to the IOC, with the exception of the manuscript for some unknown reason. For decades, it was thought to be lost forever.
It wasn’t until Marquis Francois d’Amat began a quest to find the manuscript in 1990 that he was able to trace it to a private collector in Switzerland, who had been keeping it in a bank vault. The collector sold it to him, but it wouldn’t be displayed publicly until the 2019 auction at Sotheby’s.
At that point, d’Amat sold the manuscript for more than $8.8 million, a record for any piece of sports memorabilia at the time.
5. The Dynasty Collection: $8.032 million
Sotheby’s called it “the most valuable and significant collection of Air Jordan sneakers ever brought to market” in the auction description of the set of a single sneaker from each of Jordan’s six NBA Finals-clinching games.
A Bulls PR exec named Tim Hallam — who had been with the Bulls since 1978 — got up the courage to ask Jordan a favor ahead of the 1991 NBA Finals. Would he give him a game-worn sneaker from the clinching game?
After a Game 5 victory, Hallam got his wish: A shoe from Jordan’s first championship-clinching game, signed & inscribed for good measure.
Lucky for Hallam, Jordan was superstitious and kept up this tradition for the next five Finals-clinching games.
The unique set sold for more than $8 million in 2023, the highest price ever paid for a single lot of game-worn sneakers.
6. Set of six Lionel Messi jerseys from 2022 FIFA World Cup: $7.8 million
The World Cup had been Messi’s white whale for his entire career, so when he finally reigned victorious in 2022, it was a massive moment for one of the world’s most famous athletes on the biggest possible stage.
Six shirts worn by Messi in games from the tournament in two Group Stage matches, the Round of 16, the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, were consigned by AC Memento, a sports memorabilia startup that acquired the kits directly from Messi.
The company has since pivoted, possibly with the help of the $7.8 million brought in by the auction.
7. Muhammad Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight championship belt: $6.18 million
Muhammad Ali’s victory over George Foreman came in one of the most famous boxing matches in history, with the “Rumble in the Jungle” representing a moment of extraordinary significance in the overlap between politics and sports.
Ali had been stripped of his title in 1964 and banned from the sport after speaking out and refusing to be drafted to the war in Vietnam. By 1970, sentiment had shifted, and he was reinstated and hungry to make up for the lost prime years stolen from him.
After losing to Frazier in the “Fight of the Century,” Ali took on George Foreman in 1975, regaining his glory after a decade. He was rewarded with a WBC Heavyweight Championship Belt, one of two he received over his career.
During the July 2022 sale, Heritage Auctions called it “arguably the most important boxing award ever made available at public auction.”
The $6.18 million price is the most ever paid for a boxing-related item.
8. Kobe Bryant's Lakers game-worn and signed jersey from MVP season: $5.85 million
During his 2007-08 MVP season, Kobe Bryant wore one jersey for at least 25 games — considered to be extremely heavy use in the modern age, a quality coveted by collectors.
Just as relevant to the jersey’s value is that in addition to being worn by Bryant in one of his greatest seasons, it also featured prominently in what would become one of his most enduring images.
Bryant “popped his jersey” to celebrate a playoff victory over Denver, creating an instant classic picture.
The jersey sold for $5.85 million in 2023, the second-most paid for a basketball jersey behind only Jordan’s.
9. Babe Ruth's Yankees road jersey: $5.64 million
When Hunt Auctions sold a Babe Ruth jersey, dated to around 1928-30, for $5.64 million in 2019, it was the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold. It beat out another Ruth jersey that had sold for $4.4 million.
The jersey was sold as part of a Ruth auction at Yankee Stadium in partnership with Ruth’s family. It’s always a major event when a Ruth jersey is up for auction, as there are only around five in existence. There used to be one more, however, Donruss bought one at auction in the early 2000’s and cut it up to insert into baseball cards.
10. Jackie Robinson's game-worn Brooklyn Dodgers jersey: $5.52 million
During the same auction as the Ruth “Called Shot” jersey, a Jackie Robinson Dodgers white flannel attributed to his excellent 1951 season, in which he hit .338 and placed sixth in MVP voting, sold for $5.52 million.
The jersey was not conclusively photo-matched, but Resolution Photomatching provided “potential” photo-matches and a 75th anniversary patch as well as the chronology of the Dodgers uniform style allow experts to date the jersey to 1951.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.