Twenty-five years ago today, with more than 90,000 people watching in person at the Rose Bowl and 40 million more Americans watching on television, Brandi Chastain became a household name with one of the most memorable celebrations in sports history.
After scoring the winning penalty kick to give the the United States women the World Cup on their home soil, Chastain ripped off her jersey to reveal her black Nike sports bra as she waved her white No. 6 jersey above her head and was mobbed by onrushing teammates.
On the 25th anniversary of this landmark moment for women's sports, many fans cannot recall the opponent (China), the score in regulation (0-0) or the penalty-kick shootout (5-4), or where Chastain's kick went (just inside the right post).
But they remember the celebration and Chastain's iconic sports bra.
So, where is that sports bra today? Does Chastain still have it? And if so, would she ever be willing to sell it?
In the days following the history-making U.S. victory, even in a much more nascent market for game-worn items at the time, Chastain said she was offered "hundreds of thousands of dollars" for the bra, but she turned it down because she thought cashing in on the moment would cheapen what she and her teammates had accomplished.
But what happened next, especially given those initial offers, was quite unpredictable.
Chastain put the historic piece of sports memorabilia back in her bra drawer and even wore it again for her daily workouts. She kept tabs on it, knowing which black bra it was. It helped that it was a prototype.
Fortunately for Nike, its new sports bra, Inner Actives, went on sale 11 days later. The sports bra business was never the same after that. A $415 million market in 1999, it's estimated to be in the $7 billion range today, nearly nine times the size when factoring for inflation.
But let's get back to Chastain's sports bra.
In 2008, Chastain lent the bra for an exhibit at the new Sports Museum of America in New York. But after nine months of woeful attendance numbers, the organization that ran the museum filed for bankruptcy. Chastain's bra, along with other pieces of memorabilia, was thrown into a warehouse in New Jersey.
After a month of fighting, Chastain got it back. Chastain then framed it, and that's where it sits today, framed in her office.
So, would she consider selling it?
"I got grandkids," Chastain told cllct. "Maybe if they need houses or something."
Is the bra valuable enough to buy a house? Or is Chastain speaking in hyperbole?
Collector and appraiser Simeon Lipman says if the bra can be photo-matched and the provenance is iron-clad (which it would be in this case because it would come straight from Chastain), it would be worth more than $1 million in today's market.
"It represents so much," Lipman said. "It's probably the most important female athlete relic of all time."
That's quite the dollar figure, especially considering Chastain's contract at the time with the U.S. Soccer Federation paid her $255 to play that game ($105 a day, $150 per game).
When she considers the magnitude of the moment, there's still reticence on Chastain's part.
"To be honest with you, I'm not sure how I feel about it because that moment was very organic and real and in the moment, and it really resembles and evokes for me all that you have when you participate in sports," Chastain said. "So, I don't know if I could ever part with it."
That unforgettable 1999 World Cup victory made Chastain, who today is part owner of the NWSL team Bay FC, and her teammates very popular on the autograph circuit.
Chastain and seven other members of the '99ers — Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Briana Scurry, Kristine Lilly, Carla Overbeck. Joy Fawcett and Tisha Venturini — will be signing autographs at the National Sports Collectors Convention later this month in Cleveland. Each autograph costs $41, or a whole team package can be bought for $311.
Chastain says she actually doesn't sign too many black sports bras. Today, she says the most common items she signs are photos from her famous moment and her Funko Pop!, which, of course, has her in her sports bra.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.