Would you follow through and pay? Brady's last TD

[scmavl]

Originally Posted by Tyruscobb

I would argue that the sale price ($518k) reflected the risk Brady would return. That is - the risk was already baked into the cake, and is the reason the ball "only" went for $518k and not more.

Over a decade ago, Barry Bond's final homerun ball sold for $750k. Adjusted for inflation, in today's value, the $750k is worth over $832k. Thus, Brady's "final" TD ball sold for just 63% what the Bond's ball would fetch today.

In 1999, twenty-three years ago, a bidder paid $650k for Hank Aaron's final homerun ball (#755). Adjusted for inflation, in today's value, the $650k is worth over $1.1M. Thus, Brady's "final" TD ball only sold for less than half what Aaron's final ball would fetch today.

Like Aaron and Bonds, Brady is a legend and among the greatest to ever play. I know baseball's number are more sacred, but I would expect the true final Brady TD ball to sell close to par with Aaron and Bond's final balls.

The sports collectible market has only increased since the Bond's ball sale. Brady is the greatest QB, and perhaps the greatest football player. The fact his final ball only sold for fractions, when compared with Aaron and Bond's final balls, tells me that the bidding reflected the risk that Brady would come back. If bidder truly thought Brady would stay retired, the ball should've fetched near $1M.

If Brady stayed retired then $518k could have been an absolute bargain. The winning bidder took a gamble that didn't pay out. If Brady stayed retired, the bidder got a tremendous deal. If Brady came back, the bidder could back out and cancel? Where is the bidder's risk? Letting the bidder off the hook gives the bidder all the upside with absolutely no downside.

That's an interesting take. The only difference being Bonds & Brady are both very polarizing figures, and hated by many fans of the sport. I don't think you'd find any baseball fan who actively hated Hank Aaron (racism notwithstanding).

[D. Bergin]

It was literally hours later....right?

The chances 1/2 a million bucks was wired to Lelands before they had a chance to even send out their invoices, is pretty low I imagine.

I think it's in the bidders court to do what they want, considering the circumstances.

People renege on auction winnings all the time. If auction houses hired a team of lawyers every time somebody backed out of a sale (of which they only get a commission on, while taking the financial risk of the entire transaction), they'd all be broke right now.

I assume it's written in all auction terms for consignors, that non-paying bidders and other complications may arise, which can negate the final result of an auction lot.

[keithsky]

This won't get settled for the next 6 months until the season starts and Brady throws his first TD. What if he gets hurt during pre season camp or a game and is out for the season then it's still the last TD. Don't see anything getting settled but you know lawyers will already be involved.

[conor912]

Maybe both the buyer and Leland’s should sue Tom Brady

[D. Bergin]

Maybe Mike Evans felt bad for throwing away that ball...and he's the winning bidder.

[nat]

Here's a fun (and surely not legally possible, but it's just for fun) way for it to play out:

Buyer pays, receives ball. Sues AH for non-performance of contract, as what he bought was Brady's last TD ball, and that's not what this is. AH says "okay, we'll refund your money and call the whole thing off", and buyer says "no" and demands specific performance. Then AH has to get Brady's final TD ball somehow. Maybe they buy all the seats by the endzone during his final game, hoping that some receiver will toss it to them.

[chriskim]

This kind of topic and incident just make me sick to the stomach since we will never know the outcome definitively. It might just get "settled peacefully" but not in full hammered price etc. who knows?

Just like what happened to that $3M pokemon case that was fake? Anyone put in jail? All parties got their money back? No one wants to talk about it because lawsuit is on-going???

[D. Bergin]

If the winner has 2nd thoughts (and not unlimited IDGAF type funds), likely they and Lelands come to some sort of an agreement to nullify the result of the auction.

I doubt the consignor has any recourse at all. They got the ball for free. Everybody knows this. Auctions go unpaid for all the time. High bids are deemed faulty all the time, for one reason or another. It's likely written into the terms.