What are the Most Valuable Sports Cards?
Richard WeissKey Takeaways
- The highest sports card sale on record is the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant Dual Logoman Autographs 1/1, sold for $12,932,000 at Heritage Auctions in August 2025.
- The baseball record is the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 graded SGC 9.5, sold for $12.6 million at Heritage Auctions in August 2022.
- The football record is the 2017 Panini National Treasures Patrick Mahomes Platinum NFL Shield 1/1, sold for $4.3 million in a private sale in July 2021.
- The hockey record is a PSA 10 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card at $3.75 million (May 2021). The soccer record is a PSA 10 2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks Lionel Messi at $1.5 million (reported September 2025).
- At least four sports card sales have reached $10 million, and three of them happened in 2025 or 2026.
Table of Contents
The most valuable sports card on record is the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant Dual Logoman Autographs 1/1, which sold for $12,932,000 at Heritage Auctions in August 2025. It passed the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle that sold for $12.6 million in August 2022. The table below shows the highest verified sale in each major sport, as of October 2026.
The Most Valuable Card in Each Sport
Each row is the highest publicly reported sale we could verify for that sport. Every price is a dated sale record, and private sales are labeled. None of these figures is an estimate of what a card is worth today.
| Sport | Card | Record sale | Date, grade and seller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant Dual Logoman Autographs 1/1 | $12,932,000 | August 2025, PSA 6, Heritage Auctions |
| Baseball | 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 | $12.6 million | August 2022, SGC 9.5, Heritage Auctions |
| Football | 2017 Panini National Treasures Patrick Mahomes Platinum NFL Shield Rookie Patch Autograph 1/1 | $4.3 million | July 2021, BGS 8.5, private sale brokered by PWCC |
| Hockey | 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card | $3.75 million | May 2021, PSA 10, private sale brokered by Heritage Auctions |
| Soccer | 2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks Lionel Messi | $1.5 million | Reported September 2025, PSA 10, private sale through Fanatics Collect |
The Biggest Sports Card Sales on Record
Across all sports, these are the seven highest sales we could verify, with one entry per card.
| Rank | Card | Sale price | Date and seller |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007-08 Exquisite Collection Jordan and Bryant Dual Logoman Autographs 1/1 | $12,932,000 | August 2025, Heritage Auctions |
| 2 | 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 | $12.6 million | August 2022, Heritage Auctions |
| 3 | 2026 Topps Chrome Shohei Ohtani Back to Back Gold Logoman Autograph 1/1 | $11 million | July 2026, private sale |
| 4 | 2006-07 Exquisite Collection Michael Jordan and LeBron James Dual Logoman 1/1 | $10 million | Private sale, reported October 2025 |
| 5 | 2025-26 Topps Chrome Update Cooper Flagg Rookie Debut Patch Autograph 1/1 | $8.04 million | September 2026, Fanatics Collect |
| 6 | 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner | $7.25 million | August 2022, private sale brokered by Goldin |
| 7 | 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth | $7.2 million | December 2023, Robert Edward Auctions |
Four of the seven are baseball cards and three are basketball cards. Four of the seven are one-of-one autograph cards made in 2006 or later, and the other three were printed before 1953.
The Most Valuable Baseball Cards
A 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle graded SGC 9.5 sold for $12.6 million at Heritage Auctions in August 2022. It held the record for any sports card until August 2025. The highest modern baseball sale is the 2026 Topps Chrome Shohei Ohtani Back to Back Gold Logoman Autograph 1/1, which sold for $11 million in a private sale in July 2026. Behind them are the T206 Honus Wagner, a tobacco card, at $7.25 million, and the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth at $7.2 million.
See the full ranking in our top 10 most valuable baseball cards, or shop baseball cards.
The Most Valuable Basketball Cards
The Jordan and Bryant Dual Logoman is a one-of-one card from 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection, signed by both players, with two NBA logo patches. Graded PSA 6, it sold for $12,932,000 at Heritage Auctions in August 2025. A second Exquisite Dual Logoman, pairing Michael Jordan and LeBron James, sold privately for $10 million in a deal reported in October 2025. A Logoman card is built around that league logo patch.
More records are in our list of the most valuable basketball cards. Shop basketball cards.
The Most Valuable Football Cards
The football record belongs to the 2017 Panini National Treasures Patrick Mahomes Platinum NFL Shield Rookie Patch Autograph 1/1, graded BGS 8.5, which sold for $4.3 million in a private sale brokered by PWCC in July 2021. A Rookie Patch Autograph is known as an RPA. Second is a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady rookie autograph graded BGS 9, sold for $3,107,372 at Lelands in June 2021.
The rest of the list is in the most valuable football cards of all time. Shop football cards.
The Most Valuable Hockey and Soccer Cards
Hockey: a 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card graded PSA 10 sold for $3.75 million in a private sale brokered by Heritage Auctions in May 2021. The previous hockey record was $1.29 million, paid in December 2020 for another 1979 O-Pee-Chee Gretzky. Shop hockey cards.
Soccer: a 2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks Lionel Messi graded PSA 10 sold for $1.5 million in a private sale through Fanatics Collect, reported in September 2025. It passed the $1.33 million paid in 2022 for a 1958 Alifabolaget Pelé graded PSA 9. Shop soccer cards.
What Makes a Sports Card Valuable
- The player: every record above belongs to one of the biggest names in the sport: Jordan, Bryant, Mantle, Mahomes, Gretzky and Messi.
- Scarcity: four of the seven biggest sales are one-of-one cards. For older cards, scarcity means how few copies survive in high grade.
- Condition: the hockey and soccer records are both PSA 10 copies, the grade known as Gem Mint. The Mantle is graded SGC 9.5. Cards at this level are sold sealed in a grading company slab.
- Autographs and patches: the basketball and football records are both signed cards with a league logo patch.
- Age is not everything: the highest sale on record is a 2007-08 card, and the third-highest is a 2026 card.
How to Check the Value of Your Own Cards
Record prices belong to a handful of cards. For everything else, look at what the same card in the same condition has recently sold for. Asking prices do not count. Our guide on how to find out the value of your sports cards walks through it, and how to grade your sports cards covers grading.
Whatever a card turns out to be, protect it first. We carry card sleeves and toploaders.
Sources
- Jordan and Kobe Logoman card sets $12.93 million sports card record (Heritage Auctions, Intelligent Collector)
- Jordan and Bryant sports card sells for record $12.9M (ESPN via ABC7 Chicago)
- 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle sells for $12.6 million (Sports Collectors Digest)
- Ohtani Back to Back Logoman card sells for $11 million (MLB.com)
- Ohtani Gold Logoman card makes history with $11 million sale (Sports Collectors Digest)
- Michael Jordan and LeBron James 1/1 Logoman card sells for $10 million (Sports Collectors Digest)
- Michael Jordan and LeBron James Dual Logoman sells for $10 million (cllct)
- Cooper Flagg trading card sells for NBA record $8.04 million (Forbes)
- T206 Honus Wagner sells for $7.25 million (KIRO 7)
- Babe Ruth rookie card sells for $7.2 million (NBC Connecticut)
- Top 10 most expensive sports cards of all time (cllct)
- Patrick Mahomes rookie card sells for record $4.3 million (Sports Collectors Digest)
- Tom Brady rookie card sets record at Lelands (Sports Collectors Daily)
- Wayne Gretzky rookie card sells for $3.75M (CBS Sports)
- Lionel Messi rookie sets record for soccer cards with $1.5 million sale (cllct)
- The 10 most expensive soccer cards ever sold (Collectibles.com)
- List of most expensive sports cards (Wikipedia)
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