Mia Hamm Sets Record for Most Valuable Female Sports Card

Mia Hamm, the former soccer star of the US women’s national team and two-time Olympic gold medalist, just set a new record for most expensive female sports card. Hamm’s 1992 rookie card PSA Gem Mint 10 sold for $34,440 at Goldin Auctions on June 27, 2021. This sale nearly doubled the previous record for most expensive female sports card that was set by fellow soccer star Alex Morgan, whose rookie card went for $16,000.

Hamm’s Sports Illustrated for Kids rookie card was originally available in magazines after she competed in the first FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. At this point in her career, Hamm was already a breakout star, making the US women’s national soccer team in ’87 when she was just 15 years old – making her the youngest player on the team.

One of the most well known and decorated soccer players, Hamm played for the US Women’s National Team in 1987-2004, scoring 158 goals in 276 appearances. She was part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup winning team in 1991 and 1999. She held the record for most international goals until 2013 and is now ranked third on the list after Abby Wambach and Canadian player Christine Sinclair.

Her first gold medal came at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in a game that had a crowd of over 76,000, setting a new record for crowd size at an Olympic soccer event and a women’s sports event in the US. She was part of the silver medal winning team at the 2000 Sydney games and the gold winning team at the 2004 Athens games.

“It validates that there’s a legitimate market for women’s sports,” Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin told ESPN. “Four years ago, soccer was not considered by most [trading card] people in the United States. “But two of the five highest-priced items in this auction were soccer-related [and] then you have Mia Hamm up there, too.”