There’s no feeling quite like owning a piece of sports history, which is why many are prepared to pay exorbitant amounts of money to acquire some of the most sought-after collectibles.
Whether they’re game-worn jerseys, pieces of equipment or sports cards, we’ve seen millions of dollars shelled out for ultra-rare and iconic pieces in recent years.
Check out the top 10 most expensive sales of sports memorabilia below!
The late great Kobe Bryant wore this jersey in his NBA debut with the 
L.A. Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 1996-97.
The iconic gold jersey represents the start of Bryant’s legendary NBA career, which produced five NBA titles, 15 All-NBA selections and one MVP award, just to name a few of his many accomplishments.
The jersey was sold for $7 million in 2025 at a Sotheby’s auction, 12 years after it was initially sold for just $115,242.
The 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth card shows Ruth as a 19-year-old minor-league pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles (International League) before he became an MLB superstar.
It was printed by the Baltimore News newspaper as part of a small regional set of baseball cards. Because it was distributed locally and in very small numbers, only about 10 authenticated examples are known today. It is widely considered the earliest Babe Ruth card ever produced.
The card was sold for $7.2 million via Robert Edwards Auctions in December 2023. It was later resold in 2025 for $4.02 million.
The T206 Honus Wagner is widely considered the most famous baseball card ever produced.
The card features Honus Wagner, a legendary shortstop who played primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1897–1917. The card comes from the T206 series, produced between 1909 and 1911 by the American Tobacco Company. The cards were packed in cigarette packs, and contained over 500 players from the early MLB era.
Only about 50-75 authentic copies of this card exist today, which is why it sold for $7.25 million as part of a private sale in August 2022.
Top-10 Most Expensive Sports Cards Ever Sold
Over the past few years, the sports card has grown into a multi-billion-dollar market driven by collectors, investors, and sports fans.
Lionel Messi has accomplished everything possible during his illustrious career, but his crowning achievement is undoubtedly his FIFA World Cup conquest with Argentina in Qatar in 2022.
This set of six jerseys, which Messi wore during the first halves of Argentina’s World Cup matches, were sold for $7.8 million at a Sotheby’s auction in December 2023, one year after the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was crowned a world champion.
The auction house expected the shirts to be sold for over $10 million and break the record for most expensive game-worn jersey of all-time, but the final sale to an anonymous buyer fell short of the record price.
The original Olympic Games Manifesto, written by Pierre De Coubertin in 1892, was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for a then-record price of $8.8 million to an undisclosed buyer.
De Coubertin wrote the 14-page manifesto in a bid to relaunch the Olympics, accompanied by a speech at the Sorbonne university in Paris. Two years later, he was credited with founding the first modern Olympic Games, which were held in Athens in 1896.
Diego Maradona is remembered as being one of the best players to ever grace a soccer field, notably guiding Argentina to a World Cup victory in 1986. But one moment during that World Cup run has lived in infamy: the “Hand of God” goal.
In one of the most controversial plays of all-time, Maradona used his hand to direct the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton in the quarterfinal of the World Cup. Maradona would score a breathtaking second goal to defeat England 2-1, moving on and eventually winning the tournament.
The jersey was sold for $9.3 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 2022, less than two years after Maradona died.
The 1998 NBA Finals will go down as one of the most iconic series in basketball history for one reason: Michael Jordan and the 
Chicago Bulls‘ “Last Dance”.
Jordan and the Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in six games to hoist their sixth NBA championship, and third in a row (they had previously completed another three-peat between 1991 and 1993). The series was also significant because it was the last time Jordan played for Chicago, announcing his second retirement from basketball shortly after the end of the season.
The jersey, ironically, was worn by Jordan in Game 1, which Chicago lost despite His Airness’ 33-point effort. Sotheby’s sold the jersey for $10.1 million in September 2022, setting the record for the most expensive game-worn clothing at the time.
The famous Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle card was part of one of the first modern baseball card sets.
The seller, Anthony Giordano, bought a number of Topps Mantle cards for $50,000 in 1991, including this very card. For years, he fended off multi-million dollar offers for the prized card, until Giordano’s sons convinced him to come forward and get the card graded.
The card has an SGC MT 9.5 grade, and set the record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia when it sold for $12.6 million in August 2022.
The Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs is one of the most unique cards ever made, which is why it sold for $12.932 million to a group of three investors, including Kevin O’Leary, in August 2025.
The card includes two NBA jersey Logoman patches — one from a Jordan game-worn jersey and one from a Bryant game-worn jersey. Both players personally signed the card, making it a dual autograph collectible.
The 1-of-1 card has a grade of PSA EX-MT 6, and is the second-most expensive sports collectible of all-time, behind Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series “called shot” jersey, which sold for $24.12 million in 2024.
Babe Ruth collectibles and cards have sold for millions of dollars over the years, but none have come close to the whopping $24.1 million that his “Called Shot” jersey fetched in the summer of 2024.
In one of the most memorable moments of his career, Ruth responded to hecklers by pointing to the center field flagpole at Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series between his New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs.
In his next at-bat, the Babe hammered a pitch almost 500 feet to dead center, helping the Yankees win another World Series in what would be his final appearance in the Fall Classic.
The jersey initially sold for $940,000 in 2005, but shattered the record for the most expensive sale of sports memorabilia almost 20 years later.
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Former FIFA referee Mark Halsey has made an interesting comparison between Lionel Messi‘s foul against Algeria and Folarin Balogun’s red-card offence in the United States win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Balogun opened the scoring in the USA’s 2-0 win over Bosnia in the Round of 32 at the World Cup on Wednesday night. The former Arsenal striker then received his marching orders for a foul on Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic.
The pair battled for the ball, and Balogun’s studs made contact with Muharemovic’s calf. Brazilian referee Raphael Claus initially missed the incident before VAR intervened and sent him to the pitchside monitor, and he subsequently brandished a red card.
There has been widespread debate over Balogun’s sending off and USA boss Mauricio Pochettino hit out at the decision after the game. He said, It’s ‘never a red card’ because there was ‘never any intention to step on the player.”
Pochettino also weighed in on the comparisons between Balogun’s sending off and Messi’s foul in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria, which didn’t lead to a red card: “For me, neither are red cards.”
Messi didn’t even receive a yellow card for a foul on Algerian defender Aissa Mandi in Argentina’s group stage win. The 2022 World Cup winner scored a hat-trick in that game, but some argue he deserved the same punishment as Balogun, given the similarities between the two incidents.
Halsey defended the decision to send Balogun off because the replays show his studs make contact, even if accidentally. He did, however, opine that Messi’s challenge on Mandi was “far worse” while speaking to The Sun Football on X:
“If we go back to Argentina vs Algeria, a challenge by Messi. That challenge by Messi on Mandi, he had no chance of playing the ball; it’s a poor challenge. He rakes his studs down the back of the Algerian player’s calf.”
He added: “For me, that was far worse than the one we saw with Balogun, which VAR should have recommended a review because it was a clear and obvious error by the match official.”
Balogun will now miss the USA’s Round of 16 clash with Belgium on Tuesday (July 7th) through suspension. He may even have his ban extended if FIFA’s disciplinary panel believe the challenge on Muharemovic warrants more than the one-match ban.
Fans were quick to recall Messi’s challenge in the aftermath of Balogun’s red card, and some feel the Argentina captain had been handed preferential treatment. A side-by-side replay of both incidents shows significant similarities, raising questions about FIFA officiating and inconsistencies.
Some viewers agree with Halsey and feel Messi’s challenge looked even worse than that of the American frontman, who had been enjoying a superb campaign. One fan wrote on X: “Messi went unpunished for his. He didn’t even get a yellow card. Balogun did even less than Messi and still got a red card.”
British broadcaster Piers Morgan made his feelings known on social media, posting images of the two fouls. He captioned it: “Same tackle. One (Balogun) gets a red card. The other gets no punishment at all. Must be nice being Lionel Messi.”
Some fans have gone as far as to suggest “corruption” and “favouritism” shown towards Messi. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will be in action for the reigning world champions when they face Cape Verde in the Round of 32 on Friday night.
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