A game ball from this past season’s AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts sold at auction on Saturday for a whopping $43,740.
The ball was put up for auction last month by Patriots fan Laura Nichols. The starting bid was $25,000.
Nichols got the ball from wide receiver Brandon LaFell in the third quarter of the AFCCG. While the footballs that were used in the third quarter were of the correct pressure (officials re-inflated the balls at halftime), they were also the same balls that were used in the first half, according to the Wells Report.
The $43,740 final bid is reportedly one of the highest ever for a game used football:
Lelands.com chairman Joshua Evans said last month, when the item went on sale, that he could see it selling for more than $100,000. That didn’t happen, but the final price still could be a record.
In August last year, a ball used in the most lopsided game in college football history (Georgia Tech beat Cumberland College 222-0 in 1916) was sold for $40,388.
At least one person who roots for the Patriots was able to get a positive outcome out of Delfategate.
