A Lionel Messi rookie card from the 2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks season, graded a perfect 10 by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), sold for $1.5 million through Fanatics Collect’s private sales network.
Acquir, a high-end private sales marketplace founded at the end of 2023, represented the seller of the card.
This amount exceeds the $1.33 million paid for a 1958 Pelé card in a private sale in 2022, setting a new record for a soccer card.
The sale comes a few days after Goldin Auctions facilitated a private sale of $1.1 million for another copy of Messi’s card, also graded 10 by PSA.
Fanatics Collect’s private sales network connects high-end buyers with cards not publicly advertised for sale, and is reserved for deals of $10,000 or more.
In August, its first full month of operation, the network generated $8 million in “30-40 transactions,” according to a source at Fanatics.According to its population report, PSA has graded 838 copies of Messi’s No. 71 card from that set, including 20 with the Gem-Mint 10 grade.
Messi’s $1.5 million card includes a Diamond certification from Mike Baker Authenticated, a certification service for PSA, Beckett Grading Services, and Sportscard Guaranty Corporation, considered in collecting as an indicator of elite condition.
