For decades, we've seen paintings and other renowned works of art sell for tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars. But in recent years, another type of collectible has been breaking records for sales prices. In 2022, agame-worn Michael Jordan jersey broke the $10 million dollar mark in an auction, a testament to the incredible value of high-end sports memorabilia. But what makes sports memorabilia so valuable?

A Massive Fan Base

One of the major factors driving the value of any collectible is the pool of people who might potentially want it. And when it comes to high-level sports, that group of potential buyers is huge.

In the United States, a rabid fan base of tens of millions of people follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, as well as college football and basketball. Worldwide, the sport of football (or soccer) attracts an audience of billions for the top leagues and international tournaments like the World Cup.

Any of these people are potentially a market for sports memorabilia.

Tremendous Passion and Emotional Connection

It's not just the size of the fan bases for sports that makes sports memorabilia so valuable. Even more important is the centrality of sporting competitions in the lives of so many of the fans.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world live and breathe their favorite sports and live or die with the fortunes of their favorite teams and players. And that emotional connection means that sports memorabilia is often extremely valuable to those fans.

It's no exaggeration to say that spectating sports is the primary leisure activity for a significant portion of the adult population of quite a few countries, including the United States. Many of these fans spend multiple hours a week watching games and pre/post-game analysis, and spend a significant chunk of their disposable income on their hobby.

Entire cities throw impromptu parties when the local team triumphs, and sink into despair after a crushing defeat. And all this passion means that sports create lasting memories in the fans who follow them.

Sports memorabilia is a conduit for that passion and emotional connection. Frequently, it evokes the memory of a touchstone within the lives of the fans. A set of rookie cards or BYU nft football cards can represent a favorite player of all time. A jersey can bring to mind the greatest game a fan has ever watched.

Rarity

Finally, sports memorabilia's skyrocketing prices come from the scarcity of some of the particularly sought-after items. As with any commodity, the price rises when demand is much greater than supply. As has already been covered, the demand for sports memorabilia is tremendous. The second part of the equation is that supply is limited.

There might be a billion Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Michael Jordan fans in the world. But how many authenticated game-worn jerseys exist? Hundreds, at best. Consequently, you'd have a million people for every piece of memorabilia, and prices reflect that.

Scarcity is an even greater factor for older sports memorabilia. In the modern age, we're aware of the value of memorabilia, and so we save more of it. But decades ago, most sports memorabilia was simply discarded.

For example, one of the most valuable baseball cards ever is aparticular Honus Wagner card, which sold for more than $7 million. Wagner was a great player, but not the best by any stretch. So, what makes his card so valuable? Very few cards were issued, and most were destroyed or lost over the years.

Sports memorabilia is often incredibly specific to the great achievements of an athlete or team. And for people who treasure those achievements, that memorabilia is literally one of a kind.

If your favorite NFL player is Tom Brady, how much would you pay for the football he used to throw the last of his eventual roughly 700 touchdown passes? There's a Tom Brady fan out there who'd pay millions for it.

Bottom Line

Sports memorabilia draws its value from the intersection of a vast worldwide fan base, tremendous passion and lifelong memories, and the uniqueness and rarity of prized items. It may seem strange to think about a ball or a cardboard image fetching millions of dollars. But what those objects represent is a way of life, dreams, the pinnacle of achievement, and a status symbol all in one.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pittsburgh Pirates first came into existence in 1882, first as the Alleghenys before changing their name to the Pirates in 1892.  They played in the first modern World Series in 1903, and won their first in 1909.  Since then, they have won four more, 1925, 1960, 1971 & 1979, and was the home of some of the greatest names in the game.

This list is up to the end of the 2022 regular season.

Our Top 50 lists in Baseball look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2022 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Honus Wagner

2.  Roberto Clemente

3. Paul Waner

4. Arky Vaughan

5. Willie Stargell

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always, we thank you for your support.

It is no news that athletes have several ways of unwinding. Why? Athletes often face stressful conditions, following which they seek solace in other pursuits. Athletes are also characterized by abundant vitality, a love of competition, and an insatiable need to win. Since they get their fill of competition and high blood pressure at work, they want to replicate that feeling in their personal lives as well.

Not just that, there are celebrities and elite athletes who like going out to bars and clubs. It's no surprise that this is the case, as the spirit of competition is at the center of every sport and is respnsible for sparking a plethora of novel feelings and energizing enthusiasm. This is why many of the world's popular American footballers frequent gambling establishments and casinos for recreation.

According to casino expert Houston G. O'Keefe, many well-known American football players prefer to spend time at gambling establishments, but they also enjoy playing casino on mobile.   Online gambling has made it possible for most players to play from the comfort of their own homes, where they can enjoy the thrills of gambling without having their privacy invaded.

It's an exhilarating pastime that has permeated the lives of people of all ages, occupations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. And some popular American footballers under this category as well. Here are four of them:

1. Michael Strahan 

Being the all-time leader in sacks by an NFL player is only one of Strahan's many notable accomplishments on the football field (217). Five times in the NFL, he ranked as the best defensive end. Strahan is also the all-time leader in both games played (1,091) and games started (1,091) by a defensive player in the National Football League (NFL) (1,091). Moreover, he appeared in the NFL All-Star Game seven times and was selected to the Pro Bowl on seven occasions. 

The sportsman has a deep interest in American football and gambling at casino Philippines 2022. This athlete, who was a legend in the NFL for his outstanding performance, has officially retired. But he does like the traditional casino games. Michael thinks of gambling as a thrilling pastime, but not a means to make money. He also enjoys socializing with his companions. You might find him racking up his odds via casino online 2022 when he's not in a poker tournament. 

2. Peyton Manning 

Since he was a professional football player, winning was crucial to his career. Peyton Manning enjoyed playing around with toys and games as a young boy. As he grew older, football became his favorite sport, and it was well worth it when he won the NFL title in 2008 and again in 2012.) The 564 touchdown passes he tossed in a single season were the most ever in the NFL. When he threw for 60 touchdowns and 5,477 yards in 2012, he set a new record.

Almost everyone knows this athlete because of his incredible scoring record and string of championships. Peyton Manning is famous not just for his football skills but also as a professional gambler and poker enthusiast who can hold his own. There is no longer any need for him to go to a physical casino since all of his favorite gambling activities can be found at the best casino online 2022.

3. John Elway

John Elway is an embodiment of bravery, agility, indomitability, and determination. The quarterback won two Super Bowls and was selected to the Pro Bowl six times throughout his stellar career. Furthermore, John has the most 300-yard games (32) and touchdowns (184) in the NFL. Many quarterbacks look up to John and want to follow in his footsteps by making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. What's more, Elway threw the longest throw in Super Bowl annals (66 yards). 

Although John Elway is renowned for his incredible quickness, reflexes, and decision-making under pressure, there's more to his reputation. This sports star is notorious for his love of the casino. Elway is a massive fan of live casino Philippines 2022 and slot machine-heavy gambling sites. Since ending his professional career, the sportsman has often said that gambling helps him obtain more pleasant feelings in interviews.

4. Tom Brady

Tom's first two decades as a professional football player were spent with the New England Patriots, where he was an essential component of the team's dynastic run from 2001 to 2019. Tom Brady is one of several famous American football players that enjoys spending time in casinos. The athlete is well-known due to his high scoring average and several championships. Not only is he a talented football player, but he is also a professional gambler. 

And he is pretty adept at poker, which is his favored type of online casino gambling. That he puts the same amount of effort into poker as he does football is not surprising. Unlike the rest of the guys on this line-up, Brady doesn't see gambling as a fun pastime. He figured up a technique to make money off of it. Well, when you have millions of dollars in the bank, gambling must be a blasConclusion

It has been evidenced in the aforementioned that there is a strong connection between gambling and American football, and some NFL players frequent the casino. It's worth noting that several American Football players are avid poker players and like competing in tournaments.

They also like playing slot machines for fun. Yet another interest of some of them is wagering on game outcomes. And this makes sense, given that they are professional football players with the experience to make strategic stakes.

We love to add more sub-sections at Notinhalloffame.com, and if you have been looking at our recent posts, you can see that our current focus is on our Futures Section, which look at eventual candidates who have retired from their respective sport, but are not yet Hall of Fame eligible.  Today, we unveil the latest add-on, the 2026 Baseball Futures of the players who qualify for Cooperstown in 2026.

Here are the players in our 2026 Baseball Futures Section:

Alex Gordon:  Playing his entire career with the Royals, Gordon won three Gold Gloves, was a three-time All-Star and was a member of the 2015 World Series Championship Team.

Chris Davis:  Davis was a power hitter who won two American League Home Run Titles as a member of the Orioles.

Cole Hamels:  Hamels helped lead Philadelphia to a World Series win in 2008, and he was the NLCS and World Series MVP that year.  A four-year All-Star, Hamels had four top ten Cy Young finishes and 2,560 Strikeouts.

Daniel Murphy:  Murphy was the runner-up for the 2016 National League MVP in 2016, and was a three-time All-Star.  He also won two Silver Sluggers and twice led the NL in Doubles.

Edinson Volquez:  Volquez was a long time Starting Pitcher who went to one All-Star Game and won a World Series with Kansas City in 2015.

Edwin Encarnacion:  Finding his stride as a Designated Hitter with Toronto, Encarnacion earned three All-Star appearances, and had 429 Home Runs.

Gio Gonzalez:  Gonzalez went to two All-Star Games and had an overall record of 131-101 and 1,860 Strikeouts.

Howie Kendrick:  Kendrick played most of his career with the Angels where he was an All-Star in 2011, but he would later win an NLCS MVP and World Series Ring with Washington in 2019.

Hunter Pence:  Pence was a four-time All-Star who won two World Series Rings with the San Francisco Giants.

Jason Kipnis:  Kipnis is best known for his time with Cleveland where was a two-time All-Star and won one a Wilson Defensive Player Award.

Jeff Samardzija:  Samardzija was an All-Star Pitcher in 2014 and also led the NL in Strikeouts in 2017.

Kelvin Herrera:  Herrera went to two All-Star Games as a Relief Pitcher and would win a World Series with Kansas City in 2015.

Matt Kemp:  Kemp went to three All-Star Games, and won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers.  He was the runner-up for the NL MVP in 2011 when he was a Dodger.

Matt Wieters:  Wieters was a four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner as the Catcher for the Orioles.

Nick Markakis:  Splitting his career between Baltimore and Atlanta, Markakis won three Gloves, one Silver Slugger and went to one All-Star Game.

Rick Porcello:  The Starting Pitcher won the American League Cy Young Award in 2016 and the World Series two years later. 

Ryan Braun:  Braun played his entire career with Milwaukee where he won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2008 and the AL MVP in 2011.  He is also a five-time Silver Slugger, six-time All-Star and he twice led the league in OPS and Slugging Percentage.

Shin-Soo Choo:  Choo is one of the first everyday players from South Korea and was an All-Star in 2018.

You know what we want you to do!  Cast your votes, and offer your opinions on this group and all other entries on Notinhalloffame.com.

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support.