A rookie card of soccer great Pelé is the first card in the sport to top $1 million in value.
As early as Monday, Rally, a fractional ownership company, will finalize the sale of a 1958 Alifabologet rookie card of the Brazilian soccer great for $1.33 million, ESPN reported.
Pelé, 81, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, played his last game nearly 45 years ago, but his worldwide appeal remains strong.
Last week, a private buyer made a $1.1 million offer for the card, which is one of just five graded 9 out of 10 by Professional Sports Authenticator, a card and memorabilia grading service. There are no higher-graded versions of the card, according to Sports Collectors Daily.
Shareholders who had bought fractional shares of the card had 48 hours to evaluate the offer and vote on whether to accept.
Then another private buyer bid $1.3 million, which was accepted by Rally and a small majority of the card shareholders, according to Sports Collectors Daily.
>> Soccer great Pelé hospitalized again for tumor on colon
The card sold for $288,000 in the fall of 2020 through Goldin Auctions.
“Soccer has gotten a lot of attention recently and this particular card has broken the record of ‘most expensive soccer card’ a couple of times,” Rob Petrozzo, chief product officer and co-founder of Rally, told ESPN. “It was issued during the 1958 World Cup campaign, the true Pele rookie, none graded higher: It’s kind of a holy grail for (soccer) cards.”
In November 2021, Goldin Auctions brokered a then-record $900,000 sale for a different PSA 9 Pelé card, ESPN reported.
Pelé, who won three World Cups with Brazil, had a tumor on the right side of his colon removed in September.
Pelé spent nearly a month in the hospital after his original surgery, and doctors said at the time that he would need to undergo chemotherapy, according to The Guardian.
Pelé won the 1958 World Cup as a teenager with Brazil and added titles in 1962 and 1970. He remains the country’s all-time leading scorer with 77 goals, according to The Associated Press.
In 2000, FIFA named Pelé as its Player of the Century, CNN reported. It was an honor he shared with Argentina’s Diego Maradona.
Famous for rarely being injured during his career with Brazil and with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, Pelé has suffered from hip problems and cannot walk without assistance, Reuters reported.