What makes some sports memorabilia more valuable than others?

Our reputation for framing sports memorabilia has spread far beyond Solihull, so we get lots coming through the doors these days. Baggies shirts, Blues shirts, Villa shirts - and a few Baggies players, Blues players and Villa players bringing them in too! We’ve framed everything from boxing gloves to cricket bats and every single item was precious to its owner - otherwise they wouldn’t have put it in a frame. But it got us thinking. What makes some sports memorabilia more valuable than others? And what is the most expensive sports item ever sold?

A witness to history?

Surely, a major factor in determining the value of an item is its connection to a particular event. Take Diego Maradona for example. He must have worn thousands of shirts over his career - but which is the most valuable? The one he wore whilst raising aloft the World Cup trophy? The Napoli shirt he wore when clinching the club’s first ever Scudetto? No, it is of course the one wore in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal against England. A match that looms far larger in our collective memories than the final itself - which was a ding-dong 3-2 victory for Argentina over West Germany by the way. The quarterfinal was the “Hand of God” game. It was also the “You’ve got to say that’s brilliant” game. A game that seemed to encapsulate and epitomise the flawed genius of the man. No surprises then that the dark blue, Le Coq Sportif number 10 shirt became the most expensive sport shirt ever sold when former England, Spurs, Forest and Villa midfielder Steve Hodge put it up for auction in 2022. He put a reserve of £4 million on it. It sold for over £7 million.

interestingly enough, when Maradona punched that ball past Peter Shilton and weaved his way through England’s entire midfield and back four, not a single person in the vast Azteca Stadium was wearing a replica dark blue Argentina away shirt. And nor were any of the millions watching back in Buenos Aires. That’s because the blue nylon shirt with the shadow stripes was a last minute replacement for cotton shirts deemed too heavy for the blistering Mexican midday sun. Maradona himself is said to have chosen the replacement shirt - pointing to it and saying “That’s the shirt we will beat England in”.

So that’s that then. The value of an item is determined by a combination of association with a sporting icon and its presence at an historic event. And the “Hand of God” shirt hits the sweetest of sweet spots. It’s hard to think of a more globally recognised icon than Maradona - one of the greatest players of the world’s favourite game. And the shirt was worn for not one, but two, iconic World Cup moments. The shirt’s place at the top of the most expensive clothing league table is surely safe for years to come. It actually lasted about 4 months. 

Touched by a star?

In September 2022 a Chicago Bull’s vest worn by Michael Jordan sold for $10.091 million. Jordan, perhaps even more so than Maradona, transcends his sport and is a global icon. There were 20 bids on this vest when it went for auction and interest was no doubt drummed up by the recent ‘Last Dance’ Netflix documentary series. So what’s so special about this particular vest? Erm. Not that much. Yes, it’s a Michael Jordan vest and yes it was worn in the 1998 NBA finals - the last finals Jordan played in. But this vest is from game 1 - not the deciding or championship clinching game. In fact, the Bulls lost this game to the Utah Jazz. It does make you think; how much would the game 6 vest go for? We’d certainly be happy to frame it if its owner is reading this!

Raw rarity 

So the most expensive shirt wasn’t even worn at a particularly key moment. Yes, it was the finals but it was hardly an iconic “I was there” moment. So can we deduce from this that it is the association with the star rather than a particular moment that is the primary determiner of value? Maybe not. Some of the most valuable items of sports memorabilia have never been owned, worn or even been touched by a sporting star. In August 2022, a mint condition Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card from 1952 sold for an incredible $12.6 million! The market for cigarette and trading cards is huge in America - and not just cards from the 20th century. A 2020 Topps Lewis Hamilton card sold for $900,000 just two years after it was made. The trading card value is not so much about a connection to any particular star or historic event - it is purely down to rarity. If demand is strong enough and supply limited enough, millions of dollars will change hands for a few square centimetres of cardboard. And if NFTs have taught us anything, you don’t even need the cardboard. But we don’t like NFTs - you can’t frame them!

Summing up

The truth is that there is no one dominant factor determining the value of sporting memorabilia. Its value is purely determined by the existence of people willing to pay that particular price - and they might have multiple reasons for deciding it’s worth coughing up the dosh. What’s certain is that the current record holders won’t hold the record for long. A Jordon shirt from the final game of the 1998 finals, Pelé’s shirt from the 1970 World Cup Final or a fabled Honus Wagner baseball card could all take the top spot if they were to appear on the open market. Or it might be taken by something we don’t even know about yet. When a baseball fan handed over $1.75 on the 15th April 1947 and took their seat in the upper stands at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, they knew they were going to witness history. What they didn’t know was that their ticket stub from the game, a game in which Jackie Robinson became the first black player to play Major League Baseball, would sell for $480,000 in February 2002. So why did they keep it? Probably as a personal memento of an historic day. Regardless of its future monetary value, it was precious to its owner back in 1947 - just like the ticket stubs, memorabilia and mementos we’ve all got. Whatever your precious item is, let us at In The Frame work our magic. That way, it will look its best, can be put on display and be protected - just in case it does turn out to be worth millions!