Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s cleats from the 2025 Tokyo Series sold at auction for $440,055, shattering the previous record for baseball cleats.
The New Balance Ohtani 1 cleats sold for nearly five times the amount of the next-closest sale for baseball cleats, which came in 2020 when Michael Jordan’s game-worn Birmingham Barons cleats sold for $93,000. The auction ran for more than a month, starting July 13 and ending Sunday.
“This is one of the most important pieces of modern baseball footwear ever publicly offered,” said Scott Keeney (aka DJ Skee), the founder and CEO of The Realest prior to the auction on his platform. “This is more than just a piece of game-used memorabilia from a star player – these shoes represent a rare crossover of baseball legacy, Japanese sports history, and sneaker culture. The rarest artifacts are defined by the icon, the moment, and the provenance, with elite examples reaching million-dollar and multi-million-dollar prices. This pair of shoes has all three, placing it in the conversation with the most significant sports and cultural footwear of all-time.”
Have Game-Worn Shoes Ever Sold for This Much?
While Ohtani’s cleats broke baseball’s record for game-worn footwear, they aren’t the most expensive show the sports world has ever seen. Jordan holds the record across all sports, and Kobe Bryant is the only player other than Jordan and Ohtani to have shoes sell for more than $400,000.
“We’re incredibly proud of this result, which shows what The Realest can do when entrusted with a truly important piece of baseball history,” said Keeney. “We sold Shohei Ohtani’s Tokyo Series shoes for $440,055, nearly five times more than the previous public auction benchmark for baseball footwear. 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. From our international pop-up events in Japan to our direct work with professional leagues, teams and athletes across baseball, the NFL and NBA, we’ve built The Realest to connect the world’s most significant memorabilia with collectors around the globe. This sale further establishes The Realest as a leading destination and marketplace for significant baseball and game worn sports memorabilia, particularly historic Shohei Ohtani game-used items.”
What are Other All-Time Baseball Cleat Prices?
Other than Ohtani’s record-breaking fee and Jordan’s former record, Babe Ruth holds the third-highest auction total at $81,563 after a single one of his cleats sold in 2021.
Ruth also holds the fourth-highest fee, followed by 1960s rivals Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle.
Behind those two are Hank Aaron and another pair of Ohtani’s signed cleats, with former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter’s cleats marking the 10th-highest sale of all time.