Over the years, investors and sports fans have gravitated to various collectibles from past and present athletes. Areas of interest include sports cards, sports memorabilia and autographs. With record sales happening, it might be time to gravitate to the high-growth area of tickets.
What Happened: In the month of February, two new records were set for prices paid for sports tickets, including two of the biggest names to ever play their respective sports.
Heritage Auctions sold 72 tickets in a recent auction that had a combined total of $2.1 million in sales, double the amount expected.
A full version of a ticket to Michael Jordan’s debut game sold for $468,000, setting a short-lived record. Shortly after the Jordan auction, a 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers ticket from Jackie Robinson’s debut game hit a new record of $480,000.
Prior to 2021, the record holder for seven years was $95,600 paid for a signed ticket from Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech.
Several tickets hit the $100,000 price in 2021 with a Mickey Mantle debut ticket at $141,000, Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game ticket at $115,000 and Tom Brady signed debut tickets at $175,000 and $153,000.
The previous record-holder was another Jordan debut ticket selling for $264,000 in December 2021.
The Robinson ticket was purchased by Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. There are only seven graded tickets from Robinson’s debut.
The Jordan ticket was expected to see a winning bid in the $264,000 price range.
Top Ten Ticket Sales: With the Jordan and Robinson auctions final, here is an updated look at the top 10 ticket sales of all-time as of February 2022.
Jackie Robinson Debut: $480,000
Michael Jordan Debut: $468,000
Michael Jordan Debut: $264,000
Tom Brady Signed Debut: $175,000
1903 World Series Game 3: $175,000
Michael Jordan Debut: $160,000
Tom Brady Signed Debut: $153,600
Tom Brady Signed First Touchdown: $144,000
Mickey Mantle Debut: $141,395
First Masters Tournament: $118,599
Why It’s Important: Tickets have higher scarcity as many who attended events threw their tickets in the trash or disregarded them.
As many ticket companies such as Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) shift to digital tickets, physical tickets could become even more scarce.
Investors are paying record prices for old tickets that are historical events and debuts of famous athletes no longer playing the game or are still playing. Trends show which tickets have high demand.
A Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Angels debut ticket graded PSA 10 recently sold for $31,200, highlighting the potential future value of the ticket from the debut game of the reigning American League MVP.
Brady’s retirement is another example with less than 15 stubs from his debut game currently graded by PSA seeing high demand.
Related Link: Exclusive: Rally Rd Founder On Video Games, Apple Assets And Growth For Fractional Investing
Fractional Investing: One way new investors are getting into the sports ticket market is through fractional investing sites.
Collectable recently offered a Brady debut full ticket graded PSA 7 at a value of $107,750. The platform also had a recent IPO for a basket of MLB All-Star Game tickets all PSA graded. The collection features a ticket stub to every MLB All-Star Game from 1933 to 2019 and has a value of $47,500.
Collectable also has pending listings for tickets from the debuts of Mantle and Tiger Woods with neither having a valuation assigned at this time.
Rally has ramped up its fractional investments in the ticketing space as well.
The site offers trading on a basket of four 1936 Jesse Owens Olympic Gold Medal tickets at $40,000 and a ticket from Chamberlain’s 100 point game at $120,750.
Recent debuts on Rally include Woods' 1992 PGA debut ticket, which sold out at a $70,000 value. A Jordan debut ticket graded PSA 5 sold out at a value of $160,000.
During half-time of Super Bowl LVI, Rally offered and quickly sold out on a listing for a ticket to Super Bowl I at a $24,000 valuation.
