A pair of game-used, signed Shohei Ohtani cleats sold for $440,055 in an auction that concluded Sunday, setting a new public auction record for the most expensive baseball shoes ever sold. The Realest, the auction facilitator, confirmed the sale on Monday.
The previous record for baseball shoes was held by Michael Jordan, whose game-used, signed Birmingham Barons cleats sold for $93,000 in 2020. Only two other pairs of athletes' shoes across all sports have previously sold for more than $400,000: pairs belonging to Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Ohtani wore the New Balance cleats during the 2025 MLB Tokyo Series, when the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season against the Chicago Cubs. The red, white, and blue spikes bear dirt from the Tokyo Dome. They also feature images of Ohtani's dog, Decoy, on both the back and the bottom of the shoes.
Following the games in Japan, Ohtani signed the cleats with his Japanese Kanji signature and inscribed them with "GU Opening Day Tokyo Series." The sale continues a trend of high demand for Ohtani memorabilia; a trading card recently sold for over $10 million, and a base from his record-setting 50/50 game in September 2024 fetched $73,000.