Money

Michael Jordan's game-worn jersey from his last NBA Finals win is hitting the auction block -- and if you're interested, you better have deep pockets ... 'cause it's estimated to sell for over 3 million bucks!!

TMZ Sports has learned this Chicago Bulls gear is from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals  -- also known as MJ's iconic "Last Dance" season.

MJ wore the red jersey when he banked 33 points against the Utah Jazz -- and even though the Bulls lost, they ultimately won the series, 4-2  -- Jordan's 6th NBA championship.

Sotheby's Auction says this rare piece is one of the most coveted items for collectors.

"Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey is among the most highly desired pieces of sports memorabilia," Sotheby's said in a statement, "and the present example is one of just two Finals jerseys to ever appear at auction, from any of his six championships."

And, come September 6, you'll get your chance to place your bid. The auction house estimates the jersey will sell for around $3 million.

Sotheby's says that's the highest appraisal for His Airness' jersey, but when it comes to the G.O.A.T., a Finals jersey doesn't come cheap.

Folks can't seem to get enough of Travis Scott ... look no further than his concerts across the pond, where he made history at the merchandise table.

Sources close to Travis tell TMZ ... the rapper sold more than $1 million in merch at his weekend concerts in London, setting a record for performers in the United Kingdom and knocking BTS from the top spot in the process.

We're told Travis released a new series of merch exclusively for his two shows at The O2 arena in London, where fans arrived hours before the show was set to begin just to make sure they got their hands on the gear.

TS hoodies were going for $100 to $125 a pop, while shirts ranged from $45 to $75 and hats flew off the rack for $45 each.

Our sources say Travis is the only artist to sell at least $1 million in merch in the U.K. We're told BTS did just under $1 mil during their "Love Yourself World Tour" stops.

"This is gonna be a billion-dollar company. I know it. I feel it."

That's Jake Paul proclaiming his new company, "Betr" -- aiming to not just turn the betting world on its head, but also sports media -- will one day be worth at least 10 figures.

TMZ Sports talked to the 25-year-old Problem Child and his partner Joey Levy ... who broke down the new venture.

"We announce our new company Betr which has two parts. One is sports betting and online casino and the other is a media content factory. We plan on taking over the sports world and changing it forever. Bringing new sports content," Jake told us.

Levy says Betr will focus on so-called "micro bets" ... which allows bettors to put money down on wagers during a game.

"We kind of view micro betting as the TikTok-ification of sports betting, and kind of like the final level of introducing instant gratification to the sports betting experience."

(Instead of betting on the Yankees to beat the Red Sox ... think putting money down on whether Gerrit Cole's next pitch is a strike.)

That's half of the new biz. The other part is Jake's show.

"We already got some big guests lined up for the next couple of weeks. Anyone from the heavyweight champions of the world in boxing to rappers. I'm bringing everyone on the show to talk about sports," Paul told us.

"I don't wanna do the long drawn-out sports show. I want it to be quick, easily digestible, you know, 20, 30, 40 minutes, and just fun. A fun sports show."

And, Paul says his show will be very different than any sports show that's existed in the past.

"These sports show hosts are stuck in their set, they can't get drunk and talk about sports, they can't curse even. How you supposed to talk sports without cursing? So that's where we're really changing the game."

The company has already raised $50 million ... with investments from some big celebs like Travis Scott and Ezekiel Elliott.

Ben Affleck just put his Pacific Palisades mansion on the market -- for a whopping $30 million -- definite proof he and Jennifer Lopez have officially shacked up together.

Affleck, who married J Lo back in June, listed the 7-bed and 9-bathroom home Tuesday for $29.995 million ... he bought it back in 2018 for $19.250 million. It should come as no surprise the house has plenty of space, with a massive pool and spa and 13,500-sq-ft of living space.

The timing of the sale is certainly interesting, we told you a couple months ago it appeared Ben and Jen had moved into a massive mansion, previously owned by billionaire and Mariah Carey's ex, James Packer ... so Ben would need to unload his current crib.

We're told Ben and Jen are currently leasing that home, which Packer bought years ago for $60 million ... so the lease ain't cheap.

As we told you, Ben's been in L.A. while Jen worked overseas following a family trip to Paris, so it's time to get their affairs in order as husband and wife.

As an independent artist, Russ is always looking to maximize his results … including spending a whopping $1 million on his feature record with Ed Sheeran!!!

Russ released the video to his “Are You Entertained” collaboration with Ed back in July … and hopped on TikTok on Tuesday to break down a little Music Industry 101.

For Russ, the decision to drop big money into the song’s promotion was simple, Ed Sheeran is the biggest artist in the world, towering over The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Harry Styles for most Spotify listeners at over 81 million a month!

But Russ says money still doesn’t equal hit records … claiming some of his platinum records had $0 financial backing while he wasted money on others.

For Russ' $1M, he says it put $300K into the music video shot in London while the other $700K went into Spotify, radio and other social media campaigns.

The video is doing well, at 17 million views on YouTube, and Russ says the pairing was organic -- having casually met Ed at a restaurant in London before becoming fast friends.

Last time we spoke to Russ, he was adamant about how artists should bank on themselves and should cut record labels out of their career equation.

Issa Rae is showing her support, after a pregnant woman and 5 others died in a tragic car crash near her hometown ... donating money to help the woman's family in the wake of the devastating loss.

The family of 23-year-old Asherey Ryan set up a GoFundMe to raise $100K to help cover funeral expenses for the young mother. Not only was Asherey killed in the crash last week in Windsor Hills -- her 11-month-old son, Alonzo, and her unborn child also died -- the money raised will go toward their funeral expenses as well.

The family has received lots of support ... exceeding their goal by $50K. Issa Rae, who was raised in Inglewood, about 10 minutes from the crash site, is among those who have donated, chipping in $2,500.

Asherey was among 6 people who died in Thursday's fiery crash. Cops say 37-year-old Nicole Lorraine Linton was allegedly driving up to 100 mph, when she sped through a red light, slamming into several vehicles which ignited a massive blaze.

Surveillance video from a nearby business shows the horror of the accident.

Police had the opportunity to save Gabby Petito's life after responding to her domestic dispute with Brian Laundrie before she was killed ... this according to her family, which is now looking to sue the police department for a ton of cash over it.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Petito's family blames the Moab City PD for Gabby's death ... claiming Brian killed Gabby shortly after the department "failed to adequately respond to reports and evidence of domestic violence between Brian and Gabby."

The docs go on to recount the events leading up to her death ... including when police interviewed them on the side of the road last year -- with one officer saying she was crying uncontrollably and had cuts on her face and arm.

As you know, Brian told officers Gabby had been under emotional distress, allegedly pushing her away as she tried to slap him.

But, the family says there were inconsistencies in Brian's story -- including claiming he wanted to walk away from Gabby despite a witness alleging he tried to drive off without her.

Gabby's family claims the police didn't do enough probing of the situation to save Gabby -- adding that an independent investigator later concluded the officers "made several mistakes and could not rule out that Gabby's murder might have been prevented if the officers had handled the situation properly."

Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino, tells TMZ, "The Moab police, in my view, did not contribute to the death of Gabby Petito in any way. My understanding of the Moab incident is that Gabby was the aggressor and admitted on camera to hitting Brian first. The Moab police report indicated that they could have arrested Gabby but chose not to and instead separated Brian and Gabby."

He continues, "The intervening days and events from the Moab incident to the date of Gabby's death appear to be far enough removed from the reasonable actions of the officers on the scene. I see no legal liability but maybe the City of Moab will settle the matter. So best of luck to the Petito family in their quest to recover for their loss from another source."

Jake Paul and KSI will finally step in the ring and squash their beef for good -- with the YouTubers-turned-fighters agreeing to a boxing match in 2023.

The two superstars aired out their negotiations via Twitter on Monday ... and they sound serious about making it happen.

"I’m gonna send you a contract," KSI tweeted at Jake. "We fight next year. Wembley Stadium. Winner of the fight takes all. 100% of the purse will be on the line."

"Put your money where your mouth is and let’s finally end this."

Jake was quick to reply ... saying he's "1,000%" down -- as long as KSI admits he's the inferior boxer right now.

"As of today in boxing you’re better," KSI clapped back. "Let’s run it bitch."

The history runs deep between the two -- remember, KSI first called out both Jake and Logan after his first win over Joe Weller in 2018 ... but the Problem Child ultimately took on his little brother, Deji, later that year.

Jake had previously talked about avenging KSI's win over Logan in 2019 ... but eventually went on to fight guys like Nate Robinson, Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.

Things got even more heated between the two this week ... with Jake and KSI barking at each other over their own boxing events' issues.

KSI -- who recently showed off his insane body transformation -- was slated to fight Alex Wassabi later this month, but will now go up against rapper Swarmz on Aug 27 ... despite Jake's offer to fight him on short notice.

Prince Harry's underwear from his infamous strip billiards game in Sin City is hitting the open market ... a former stripper says she kept the undies for a decade and is now ready to sell.

The 10-year anniversary of Harry's wild night in Vegas is coming up this month, and ex-stripper Carrie Royale feels the timing is right to sell the Prince's royal undies from that fateful night in a high roller's suite.

The exotic dancer claims she was in the hotel room with Harry when he stripped down to his birthday suit playing pool ... and she's also auctioning off the dress and swimsuit she says she wore that same night.

What's a royal family keepsake like this worth? The stripper believes the winning bid could reach as high as $1 million.

The photo was snapped in Vegas back in August 2012, with Harry cupping his genitals with a seemingly topless woman and bear-hugging another woman who appeared to be nude as well.

Carrie Royale says word on the street is Prince Harry dropped by Larry Flynt's Hustler Club during his wild trip to Vegas, so the strip club is hosting the auction.

The stripper believes the underwear sale is a full circle moment for Prince Harry, saying ... "I am holding the auction to help remind him of his fun side, the side that his marriage to his wife Meghan has tried to control." Wow.

The live and online bidding starts Thursday at 10:30 PM PT, with a starting bid of $10,000. If the bidding reaches $800k, the winner gets a vintage 3-liter bottle of 1996 Dom Pérignon Rose wrapped in 24 karat gold, valued at over $200k.

The 'Titanic' has been sunk again ... because Tom Cruise's 'Top Gun: Maverick' just overtook the legendary blockbuster in the list of biggest money-makers in Hollywood history.

The high-flying sequel, which has been on a roll since its release in May, has now claimed the #7 spot in highest box office sales domestically ... clocking in at $662 million in tickets sold, beating out James Cameron's 1997 classic by a good $3 mil or so at $659M.

According to reports, 'TG' raked in $7 million this weekend ... which might sound relatively meager, but considering it's in its 11th week in theaters right now -- that's damn impressive.

While 'Titanic' is in Tom's rearview, he has many other flicks ahead of him that have made far more money big picture -- including, in due time, 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Black Panther,' ... which had total domestic hauls of $678M and $700M, respectively.

Some film reporters and box office analysts think 'Top Gun' actually has a shot to perhaps surmount those two as the year progresses ... but the others ahead of it in line -- 'Avatar,' 'No Way Home,' 'Endgame' and 'Force Awakens' -- are probably safe from being touched.

They've made 200-300M more dollars -- and it doesn't look like 'Maverick's' jet fuel will last that long. Unclear when Paramount will yank it from cineplexes, but even if they kept it there through the end of the year ... 'Top Gun' will like peter out at #5 all-time at best.

Still, it's a helluva achievement for both Tom and Paramount -- and proves there's still most certainly a desire for folks to hit theaters, even today. They're just more selective, is all.

If you're trying to be fly like Broadway Joe, here's your chance ... one of Joe Namath's luxury mink coats has hit the auction block -- and is expected to sell for over $20,000!

Of course, the New York Jets legend was the king of drip back in the 1970s -- he rocked fur coats with regularity -- and TMZ Sports has learned one of them is now up for grabs at Heritage Auctions.

This specific coat -- that was given to the auction house by Namath's attorney, James C. Walsh -- is a tiger-striped mink that features Namath's "JWN" initials stitched on the inside.

The piece also displays a tag from "Fur Couture Beverly Hills" -- certifying its authenticity.

There's a bit of a double bonus that comes with the coat, too ... a Wilson football signed by the Hall of Famer and an autographed 1969 issue of Esquire magazine are included as well.

Aside from his impeccable wardrobe, Namath was also famous for being one of the Jets' best players ever. During his 13-year NFL career, he won the Jets its only Super Bowl in 1969. The QB also led the league in passing yards and touchdowns in 1972 -- the same year he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Namath was also an actor -- being featured in several movies and television shows, including "The Love Boat" and "The Brady Bunch."

Meek Mill is dropping big racks to celebrate his label, copping a dreamcatcher-style Dreamchasers chain -- it's an interestingly timed purchase, and TMZ Hip Hop has all the diamond details.

The piece, designed after a Native American dream catcher said to block out bad dreams, makes the most outta the dual-meaning "DC" emblem ... and comes with a hefty $200,000 price tag!!!

Easy to see why ... it's packed with 100 carats of various diamonds -- round stones, solitaire emeralds and baguettes on the feather -- all sparkling with VVs clarity.

Don The Jeweler of Status Jewelers tells TMZ he and Meek met a little while back at a Roc Nation event where both Young Thug and Gunna vouched on the spot for Don's jewels. Thug specifically called Don "the G.O.A.T." when it comes to custom pieces for rappers.

From there, Meek and the Atlanta-based jeweler sparked a connection and spent the next year outlining the intricate details of the Dreamchasers piece ... which was hand-delivered during Rolling Loud Miami last month.

Don also had the back pendant engraved with the phrase "Dreamchasers catch dreams" ... which signifies the moves Meek is trying to accomplish going forward.

In July, Meek took the reins of his career, vowing to take his DC label to new heights after he departed from Jay-Z's Roc Nation management, his home since 2012.

The hits keep coming for lyin' Alex Jones ... a jury just ordered him to shell out $45.2 million to the parents who lost kids in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.

The money is for punitive damages ... and it's on top of the $4.1 million a jury in Austin, TX already ordered the "InfoWars" founder to pay to plaintiffs Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin.

The same 12-person jury came back with the $45.2 million figure Friday, and it includes $20.5 million each to Lewis and Heslin for mental anguish caused by Jones claiming the shooting was a hoax.

The remaining $4.2 million in punitive damages is for defaming Heslin in 2 reports where Jones questioned the father's account of holding his dead son.

The trial's been full of drama ... like when an attorney for the parents revealed Jones' own lawyers accidentally sent them all of his text messages, catching AJ in an apparent lie.

What do you do when you got a nickname like "Sauce??" You get a custom diamond hot sauce bottle, of course!!

New York Jets rookie Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner recently copped an incredible piece of jewelry to honor his special nickname ... and the thing will put Frank's, Tabasco and Tapatio to shame!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Sauce hit up Al the Jeweler in Totowa, New Jersey for the special request ... and we're told the whole thing took a month to complete.

Al tells us the blinged-out item is made up of over 20 carats of VS diamonds ... including emerald baguettes and round cuts.

As it turns out, Sauce has had diamond bottle bling made for him before ... rocking a similar piece around his neck at the NFL Draft.

Sauce certainly knows his way around the jewelry store -- he also went to Al for an amazing "Sauce" chain in the past as well.

Colby Covington doesn't only win in the Octagon -- he wins at the card table, too -- recently competing in two high-level poker tourney's in Florida, winning over $70k!!

It all went down at the 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open this week in Hollywood, FL. 34-year-old Colby entered a tournament -- the largest in the state's history with over 7,700 entrants -- and astonishingly, playing against many professional players, made the final table, finishing 7th!

For his troubles, CC won $48,298.

After the incredible performance, Covington said he "wanted to come back and prove that wasn’t just a fluke," saying he wanted to show he "could play with the best players in the world.”

That's exactly what the #1 ranked UFC welterweight did ... 'cause days later, Colby entered another tourney, Event 22, at the casino. There were 84 entrants. The game was pot limit Omaha 8.

And he won (!!) ... taking home $25,875 for first place. Altogether, with the prize money from both tournaments, Colby took how $74,143.

But, it clearly wasn't about the money for Colby, who described winning as a “surreal feeling.”

“It’s been a long journey to finally get a trophy here at Seminole Hard Rock. This is my home casino, and I love playing here,” Covington added.

Covington said his strategy in the tournament was to stay away from Phil Hui, a 3-time WSOP bracelet winner who has reportedly earned over $3.6 million during poker tournaments alone.

"He’s a great player, one of the greatest players in the game today," Covington said.

"I know he’s a specialist in high-low, so I wanted to navigate around him and wait to pick really good spots where I felt comfortable with getting the high and the low.”

An important piece of Beatles history is up for grabs -- John Lennon's nasty response to a Paul McCartney interview, and it provides tons of insight into the writing duo's complicated relationship.

John fired off a letter to Paul days after an interview critical of him and The Beatles appeared in a November 1971 issue of British music magazine Melody Maker, and John's reply is mostly scathing ... but also thoughtful and pleading.

From the jump, John's frustration with Paul is clear ... telling Paul he's ungrateful for all the money he's getting from The Beatles. As the 3-page letter rambles on, John takes issue with Paul dismissing his song "Imagine" and berates Paul for being indecisive over the band's breakup.

The Beatles had been broken up for more than a year at that point, and were haggling over money. In the letter, John pleads with Paul to meet him without any lawyers ... then turns around and accuses Paul of buying up shares of another record company behind his back.

George Harrison and Ringo Starr also get roped in, as John rips Paul for telling the magazine George and Ringo would break him -- and also accuses Paul of threatening Ringo and his wife, Maureen.

The typed letter, which includes some of John's handwritten additions and signature, is being auctioned off by Gotta Have Rock and Roll ... and it's expected to fetch at least $30,000.

John also sent the letter to Melody Maker magazine editor Richard Williams, scribbling a plea for him to publish it ... and it appeared in the magazine a few weeks after Paul's interview ran.

There's also a fascinating postscript. John says he's puzzled Paul's interview mentioned leaving their wives, Linda and Yoko Ono, out of the dispute ... to which John replies, "I thought you'd have understood BY NOW, that I'm JOHNANDYOKO."