The Great American Pursuit: A Study of Athlete Signing Fees 1970s-present

[cjedmonton]

I recently made a post on another forum discussing the outrageous fees many athletes are charging for autographs at this year's National.

This got me to thinking; just how far above normal inflation have athlete's signing fees escalated since the advent of sports shows in the 1970's?

Of course, a promoter's cut and expenses have significantly risen over the years, but that can only explain part of the trend.

Therefore, I'd like to start a collaborative project to track the rise of signing fees over the years.

Hopefully, we can draw on the recollection/experiences of our more seasoned hobbyists who may have picked up a Mantle autograph for $5-10 back in the 1970s (for example).

To participate, please post an approximate price you may have recalled seeing/paying for a baseball or flat in any of the past 4 decades (70s-00s).

Let's just focus on key HOFers or elite non-HOFers such as Maddux, Johnson, Clemens, Bonds, Rose, etc...

Any/all input is greatly appreciated. I'll compile the data and draft up a chart as we go along.

Here's an example of what my bill would be if I got every player I wanted to sign my poster:

[clutch]

I remember my mom taking me and my brother to see Ken Griffey Jr. at a card show in 1990 in Michigan. An autograph was $8.00 (if memory serves me correctly). There were also tons of kids in the line which you don't see today either.

[perezfan]

Muhammed Ali signed for free at an LA Trade Show in 1994.

[RichardSimon]

Promoters used to give table holders free autographs about 20-25 years ago.

[chaddurbin]

those are show prices. just from looking you can probably slash 50% for these guys on private signings.

[mr2686]

If I'm reading this correctly, then you may be looking at this wrong. It's not what the signer is charging per autograph, but how much the promoter is charging the collector. The price per autograph is based, I believe, on how much the signer is charging for his appearance and then they factor in the cost to bring the signer to the show, how many hours they will sign and the average number of sigs they can reasonably signed in that time. The main problem is that there's no way to know what the signers fee is. For all we know, it hasn't gone up all that much and the promoter is taking a bigger cut. Now, that's probably only one possible senario but this would account for being able to save money on those private signings where those promoters might also be collectors that are then able to get their own stuff signed. There's no doubt that prices have skyrocketed over the years, it's just not clear how the blame should be distributed.

[boxcar18]

I helped promote shows in the 1980's and 1990's in the Midwest. Below are some of the prices we charged for baseballs and flats. We paid Mantle & Ford $12500.00 for four hours. DiMaggio got $25000.00 for four hours and we also had to pay first class airfair , limo from the airport, and a suite at the hotel in Springfield,Il. Most of the other Hall of Famers would sign for four hours for fees from $1000.00 - $2500.00 and they would get to the show on their own.

Mickey Mantle & Whitey Ford (one of each) $20.00
Joe DiMaggio $25.00
Ozzie Smith $10.00
Warren Spahn $10.00
Bob Feller $10.00
Lou Brock $10.00
Bob Gibson $10.00
Eddie Mathews $10.00
Al Kaline $10.00
Stan Musial $10.00
I also went to other shows and paid $20.00 each for Ted Williams and Mantle, Sandy Koufax $20.00, Bill Dickey $20.00. Carl Hubbell used to sign for us in the mail for $10.00 for baseballs.Purchased 5 dozen baseballs signed by Ted Williams for $250.00 a dozen when the show was hit by a snow storm and attendance was small.

[Lordstan]

I know they aren't the big stars, but her are 2 flyers from show my dad and his partner at the time promoted.




My father and I started setting up at shows in 1979. At that time Mantle and Dimaggio were $7. Williams was around there, but higher in Boston area. This quickly eslcalated through the 80's to $10 for pics and $25 for balls by 1985. By the early 1990's, Mantle, Dimaggio, and Williams were all over $100 per flat, with IIRC, Dimaggio being $175 for balls at a big Atlantic City show in 91-92.