Mike Cole insists that, until a few months ago, he gladly would have accepted $500 in exchange for his unused ticket to Michael Jordan’s 1984 NBA debut.
Thankfully for him, nobody ever made him that low-ball offer.
A ticket that Cole stashed for years in his basement alongside some other old keepsakes turned out to have more than just sentimental value. It was one of two tickets that nearly doubled the previous record for the most expensive vintage sports ticket when their auctions closed early Sunday morning.
Cole’s ticket sold for $468,000, including a 20 percent buyer’s premium. A ticket stub from Jackie Robinson’s 1947 Major League debut fetched $480,000. The highest-graded ticket stub from Jordan’s NBA debut set the previous record in December when it sold for $264,000.
The flurry of lucrative sales reflects how the market for vintage sports tickets has surged during the past few years. Especially coveted are tickets from an iconic athlete’s first pro game. They’re…