Shohei Ohtani shatters Michael Jordan record with staggering $440,055 auction sale originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Shohei Ohtani continues to operate in territory previously reserved for the most celebrated athletes in sports history. A pair of game-used New Balance shoes worn and signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar during the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series sold for $440,055, according to memorabilia company The Realest.
The final price established a public auction record for baseball footwear, obliterating the previous benchmark held by Michael Jordan. Jordan’s signed and game-worn Birmingham Barons cleats from his 1994 baseball season sold for $93,000 in May 2020. Ohtani’s shoes generated nearly five times that amount.
The remarkable sale also placed Ohtani in an exclusive group with Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only athletes to have game-used footwear sell for more than $300,000.
Shohei Ohtani’s historic homecoming produces record sale
These were not shoes from an ordinary regular-season game. Ohtani wore them March 18, 2025, when the Dodgers faced the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome in the opening game of the MLB Tokyo Series. It marked Ohtani’s first MLB appearance in his home country and became the most-watched baseball game in Japanese history, according to The Realest.
The significance of that moment was visible throughout the auction. Ohtani personally signed the New Balance Ohtani 1 shoes with his Japanese Kanji signature, adding another rare element to a piece already tied to one of the most anticipated games of his career.
The shoes attracted 89 bids before becoming the highest-selling item in the history of The Realest. They also became the first piece of memorabilia offered through the company’s “Certified” pilot program, which focuses on authentication and documentation for game-used items.
“We’re incredibly proud of this result, which shows what The Realest can do when entrusted with a truly important piece of baseball history,” company founder and CEO Scott Keeney said in a release.
“This record-setting sale proves the value of prioritizing authentication, storytelling, global reach and relationships when bringing the world’s most important game-used memorabilia to market.”
Ohtani leaves baseball legends far behind
The gap between Ohtani’s shoes and other historic baseball footwear is enormous. Jordan’s $93,000 Barons cleats were the only previous pair to sell for more than $90,000. A single cleat worn by Babe Ruth during the 1918 season with the Boston Red Sox sold for $81,563 in 2021, while another pair of Ruth’s game-used cleats fetched $72,000 in 2019.
Ted Williams’ cleats from the final game of his career sold for $70,745. Williams famously homered in his final major league plate appearance at Fenway Park on Sept. 28, 1960. The list also includes Mickey Mantle’s 1960 Yankees cleats, which sold for $12,438, and a pair worn by Hank Aaron in 1965 that brought in $10,800.
Another pair of Ohtani’s game-used and signed cleats previously sold for $9,950. The Tokyo Series shoes exceeded that price by more than $430,000. The record price even surpassed auction results for footwear connected to global stars outside baseball, including Tom Brady, LeBron James, Lionel Messi and Stephen Curry, according to The Realest.
Only game-worn footwear from Jordan and Bryant has sold for more than $400,000.
MORE: You'll never guess how much LeBron James, Shohei Ohtani rookie cards just sold for
Ohtani’s memorabilia market continues to soar
The sale provides another example of Ohtani’s extraordinary reach beyond the field. His two-way ability already has made him one of baseball’s most distinctive stars. His popularity in both the United States and Japan has also created a worldwide market for items connected to the biggest moments of his career.
The Tokyo Series offered collectors an especially powerful combination. The shoes were used during Ohtani’s emotional MLB homecoming, came from a landmark international event and carried his rare Kanji signature. Those elements helped transform a pair of baseball shoes into a six-figure artifact.
The Realest has previously established public auction records for a Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award. Tony Gwynn’s 1990 Gold Glove sold through the company for $102,100, while his 1994 Silver Slugger brought in $60,500. Neither approached the amount paid for Ohtani’s shoes.
Jordan’s leap from basketball to professional baseball remains one of the most famous experiments in sports history. For more than six years, his Barons cleats stood as the most expensive baseball footwear ever sold at public auction. Ohtani did not merely break that record. He destroyed it by $347,055, delivering another reminder that his star power belongs alongside the biggest names sports have ever produced.
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