Gold Magazine January - February 2014, Issue 34 | Page 79

investing in sports memorabilia

Sports: the pinnacle of inspiration and perspiration; proof that the human
body can go above and beyond; an even playing field upon which all are equal.
And so it is – with this zeal in tow – that the battle for prized items of sports
memorabilia rages profitably on. By Chloe Panayides

Berlin, Germany, the 1936 Summer Olympics: a talented and tenacious man – at the
time, overlooked and made to jump more
figurative hurdles than many fellow athletes
due to his African-American heritage – won
four gold medals, becoming the most successful athlete of the year, all against the bitter
backdrop of Adolph Hitler’s pro-Aryan Nazi
rule.
Jesse Owens’ feats have endured as being not
only exemplary of sporting brilliance, but as
testament to the possibility of overcoming
the odds: his gold medals equating to embodiments of absolute triumph in the face of
adversity.
One individual certainly respected them as
being so, parting with $1.4 million to acquire
one – just one – of them.
The sale – held on December 8, 2013, at
SCP Auctions
– represents the
highest
price ever

B

elieve it or
not, in Cyprus there is
a man intent
on immortalising his
name in the Guinness
Book of World Records for owning the
largest collection of
Michel Platini memorabilia.
Platini, former captain
of France’s national
football team and
current president of

UEFA, has long been
held in high esteem by
51-year old Philippos
Stavrou-Platini (who,
indeed, actually legally
changed his name in
honour of his favourite
athlete).
Stavrou-Platini has
opened a museum
in Mosfiloti, in which
he stores his prized
items. It has taken
more than 20 years to
acquire the numerous

paid for an item of Olympic memorabilia at
auction, superseding the previous record held
by the marathon winner’s cup from the first
modern games of 1896, which commanded
$861,130 in April 2012.
Indeed, with sporting pursuits rousing such
feverish passion – having been a stalwart mainstay of society since antiquity – and with recent
estimates indicating that there are some 3.5
billion football fans worldwide, and that 3.6
billion people tuned in to watch the London
2012 Olympic Games (the highest audience
in history), it was only a matter of time before
investor attention began to sway toward the
potential profitability of sports memorabilia.
Touch Invest – a specialised platform
aimed at sharing chronicles, perspectives and
experiences supporting the collecting of, and
investing in, alternative assets – suggests that
the sports memorabilia market is worth some
$5 billion, with $1 billion attributable to the
US alone.
Attesting to the growing trend, Graham
Budd – of Graham Budd Auctions Ltd that
holds regular sales at Sotheby’s London – exampled a recent 2013 auction, which was
comprised of a respectable 993 sporting items
to be sold over two days.
Detailing key catalysts that have invigorated
the sports memorabilia market, Budd refers to
the flourishing of channels such as Sky Television in the 1990s, that funneled a great deal of
money into the promotion of various sports,
bringing the latter closer to the hearts and
homes of fans worldwide: “The media really
got a hold of sport and hyped it up, making it
a dramatic and glamorous market.”
Likewise – Budd maintains – as prominent

items, spanning pictures, posters, jerseys,
and signed footballs.
The current record –
established five years
ago – for the Largest
Sporting Memorabilia
Collection is held by
Fernando Da Silva,
with a compilation of
1,625 items related
to Portuguese club,
Benfica. Some news
sites suggest that
Stavrou-Platini’s col-

lection comprises over
21,000 items, which
required him to part
with €200,000 in total.
No surprise then that
the super-fan set the
process in motion to
enter into the Guinness Book of World
Records, which commenced about one
year ago.
Fellow Cypriot and
vice chairman of
UEFA, Marios Lefka-

sports people progress through their
careers and approach retirement,
attention focuses on their past efforts and distinctions, coupled with
the distinct realisation that said successes
have suddenly become finite.
Budd examples the retiring of Sir Alex
Ferguson – prolific manager of Manchester United from 1986 until 2013, further
credited with widening football’s fan base,
especially in Asia – causing an influx

Look for a truly
historic item, such as
a shirt worn during
a world cup final or
memorable match
of inquiries from Thailand and South Korea,
with investors seeking to purchase Manchester
United memorabilia.
In keeping with the underlying principle of
overcoming adversity, experts concur that the
sports memorabilia market has, indeed, largely
remained unharmed by the effects of the financial crisis, with the higher-end, in particular,
remaining strong.
Explaining, Budd says: “Wealthy people
have still got money, and in this day and age
where they are getting nothing in their bank,
they are looking for alternative ways to channel it.”
Bonhams’ sports specialist, Chris Hayes,
agrees, relating that it is becoming increasingly
popular for investors to purchase sporting

ritis, facilitated Stavrou-Platini’s
dreams
coming true
in 2009,
by informing