Money

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs received their Super Bowl 54 rings a little over 2 months ago, and now one of the iced out rings just sold for BIG BUCKS at auction!!

The ring was originally given to Mike Weber -- a 23-year-old running back who was on the Chiefs practice squad last season -- before the blinged-out jewelry made its way to the block at Goldin Auctions.

The auction house would not disclose the final sale price ... but one big-time collector placed a bid for $70k.

The opening bid was $35,000.

Sure, it's a lot of cash ... but the ring is absolutely awesome. It features a bunch of super cool aspects to commemorate the Chiefs' championship.

It's made with 10 karat gold and contains 2 Lombardi Trophies made with marquee-cut diamonds ... and a Chiefs logo designed out of 60 diamonds.

But, it's not JUST gold and diamonds ... the ring also includes 16 rubies representing the teams 10 AFC West division titles and 6 playoff appearances under Andy Reid.

The perimeter of the ring top has 122 diamonds which represents 100 NFL seasons and the 22 playoff appearances in Chiefs’ franchise history.

The blinged-out jewelry also contains the name, number (#45) and signature -- inside the ring band -- of Weber ... who just signed on with the Packers' practice squad.

President Trump has surfaced with great news -- the whole country will be getting the COVID-19 vaccine next spring, unless you live in NY ... where all you're getting is screwed by the Trump v. Cuomo war.

The President made his first public remarks since the election, Friday at the White House ... and proudly announced Operation Warp Speed is ready to distribute Pfizer's vaccine as soon as it gets FDA approval. He's projecting delivery will begin in April.

Great news, right? Well, POTUS also served up a side dish of petty with the vaccine. He said NY state will NOT be getting the vaccine because Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he doesn't want it.

Trump was referring to comments the Gov. has made about not trusting a vaccine if the Trump administration rushes its approval. Well, The Prez is taking him at his word, and went on to rip Cuomo for his COVID-19 response in the Empire State.

The good news for NYers is there's still time for both men to squash the beef, and Trump did say everything could change if Cuomo calls and asks for the vaccine. Translation: Kiss the ring, then you'll get the meds.

However, the Governor's Office tells TMZ, "Trump has failed with his pandemic response, lied to the Americans about how bad it was when he knew otherwise & was fired by voters for his incompetence. Governor Cuomo is fighting to ensure the communities hit hardest by COVID get the vaccine."

Doesn't sound like an attempt to make peace.

The wild card, of course, is President-elect Joe Biden, who it appears WILL be in the Oval Office come April -- so, maybe Cuomo doesn't see a need to bow to Trump.

While Trump did not take any questions from reporters, he did make one reference to the election, saying, "This administration will not be going to a lockdown. Who knows which administration it will be ... I guess time will tell."

It's the closest he's come to acknowledging defeat, but still ... NOT a concession speech.

LaMelo Ball may be a Puma guy now, but he's still selling clothes at Big Baller prices -- launching his very own designer lifestyle clothing brand ... and it ain't cheap.

The youngest Ball Bro is one week from becoming a likely top 5 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft ... and he's already making serious business moves.

Dubbed "LaFrancé" -- Ball's middle name -- Melo is expanding his brand with black and white t-shirts, hoodies and socks featuring his name and logo ... and they're expensive as hell.

For instance -- the shirts come with a $70 price tag ... and the hoodies will setcha back $120.

And, if you've ever wanted to rep Melo on the balls of your feet, the socks are currently being sold for $20 a pair.

19-year-old Ball says the "Melo 2020" launch is only available for a limited time ... which might explain the price.

If you think those prices are steep, Melo says he actually LOWERED the cost after some more consideration.

"Outta the kindness of my heart and talkin wit my team I'm gone lower the price on some stuff to show love," Melo said Friday.

"cuz some people been a lil upset and i wanna see MOST of yaw happy ...  i'm playin all of yaw."

FWIW -- the site says each piece is "100% Hand-made with love in Los Angeles, CA, USA" ... and can you really put a price on love?!

Kobe Bryant is still a titan of industry -- even in death -- so says Forbes which just ranked him #6 on its "Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities of 2020" list.

The NBA legend passed away on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash -- but in the months that followed, his estate pulled in an estimated $20 million in earnings, Forbes says.

The main source of income is from shoes and apparel -- with Nike reportedly raking in around $250 mil annually from Mamba items.

In addition to sneakers, Kobe's 2018 autobiography, "The Mamba Mentality: How I Play" sold more than 300,000 copies this year --TEN TIMES the number of copies it did in 2019, Forbes says.

There's more ... after the Lakers won the NBA championship in October, Bryant's jersey was the #2 seller for the organization, behind Finals MVP LeBron James.

As for the rest of the Forbes list ... Michael Jackson is still #1 with $48 mil in earnings in 2020. Dr. Seuss is #2 with $33 mil. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz is #3 with $32.5. Arnold Palmer is #4 with $25 million. And #5 is Elvis with $23 mil.

Elvis' estate has lost a ton of money this year because of the COVID pandemic -- tourism at his legendary home Graceland is a big moneymaker, but it's been hit hard by the shutdowns.

"They put that money up, hell yeah I'll go over there and fight him!"

That's boxing superstar Terence Crawford -- arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world -- telling TMZ Sports he would seriously consider an MMA match with Conor McGregor.

So, why would the undefeated welterweight champ cross over into Conor's sport? Easy ...

Turns out, Crawford comes from a family of wrestlers and has some legit wrestling experience himself. He's very confident in his skills.

Plus, he doesn't think Conor's that big of a threat on the ground anyway!

"To keep it real, Conor's not a real good wrestler. He may kick the sh*t out of you. You gotta worry about them kicks to the head and them elbows more than him grabbing you."

"It'd be other things that you'd be having to worry about other than wrestling you."

Of course, if Conor wanted to stand up and turn it into a fistfight, the undefeated Crawford believes it would be a slaughter.

There's been talk about a possible Crawford vs. McGregor match for a while -- but Terence says he's seriously open to it.

"Conor is a big talent in the octagon and I'm a big talent in the boxing ring. Money talks. They put that money up, hell yeah I'll go over there and fight him!"

In the meantime, Crawford has a big fight coming up on Saturday -- taking on former champ Kell Brook in a WBO welterweight title bout.

Crawford is a huge favorite -- but we spoke with Kell, and he ain't about to roll over.

34-year-old Brook is 39 and 2 as a pro -- with a win over Shawn Porter in 2014.

Phil Collins says his ex's accusation about him reeking like hell is a blatant lie, and a cheap attempt to smear his name to get millions out of him.

The famed hitmaker filed legal docs calling Orianne Cevey a liar after she claimed Phil became a hermit and completely secluded himself from the world. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Phil calls it "a litany of demonstrably false, immaterial, impertinent, scandalous and scurrilous allegations which have nothing to do with the legal claims in this case."

In short ... Phil says Orianne's allegations have a clear malicious motive ... trying to extort him. He claims she lied about his depression to cast doubt about his mental capacity all to "deliberately make sensationalized and/or false allegations in an effort to extort money" from him.

Phil says it's all either lies or gross exaggerations, pointing out that much of it is contradicted by the fact that he says he's currently preparing to tour with Genesis again after the pandemic passes.

TMZ broke the story ... Orianne's beefing with Phil claiming he's going back on his word to give her 50-50 ownership of the home he's now trying to evict her from. To that end ... Phil argues Orianne's lies have nothing to do with the issue of whether her claim that he ever made such a promise is true. Remember ... she also claimed he stopped brushing his teeth and was not capable of performing sexually.

Tyga's no stranger to lawsuits -- particularly over unpaid bills -- but he added a new wrinkle this time, according to his landlord who says he failed to pay rent AND trashed the pad.

The landlord is suing the rapper, claiming he stiffed them on $32K in rent when he left the place back in April, after renting it for about a year. But, that's not even the worst part.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the landlord claims Tyga left gouges in the kitchen's white oak flooring ($27,650), damaged marble flooring and counters ($15,575) and damaged walls with murals and wallpaper ($103,160.25).

What's more ... the landlord claims Tyga installed a basketball hoop that damaged the driveway, and new locks that destroyed the entry door. The landlord says Tyga never had permission to install any of that stuff.

The landlord says he tried to settle this mess through mediation in May, but claims Tyga refused to play ball. He's now suing for breach of contract and wants more than $200K in damages.

Remember, Tyga was also sued in 2018 for failure to pay rent at a Bev Hills pad. So, ya gotta wonder, who keeps renting to this guy?

We've reached out to Tyga for comment, so far no word back.

Things are REALLY looking up for Mets fans ... just 2 days after their new owner promised to build a winner -- Noah Syndergaard showed his right arm can still throw missiles!!

... oh, and he did it all sweaty and shirtless!!

Syndergaard -- who had to undergo Tommy John surgery back in March -- posted video of him rocketing fastballs Thursday ... and it's gotta have people in NY ecstatic.

There was obviously concern the 28-year-old might not have the same firepower after the elbow operation ... but it's clear in the footage, Thor should be throwing close to 100 MPH again in no time.

The video comes on the heels of new Mets owner Steve Cohen saying Tuesday he wouldn't cut corners in the process of building the team into a premier MLB franchise.

"This is a major-market team," Cohen told reporters. "It should have a budget commensurate with that."

Syndergaard -- who didn't have the world's greatest relationship with the Wilpons (the previous owners) -- seems fired up to play for the guy ... he even changed his Twitter bio recently to reflect that.

"Dear Steve Cohen," Syndergaard wrote. "Hi, I’m Noah. Some ppl call me Thor. I’m a Met, working out in Florida, and I just want to win for Mets fans just like you."

Michael Jordan's last piece of NBA laundry is hitting the auction block -- the actual jersey from his final game ... and it's gonna fetch a TON of cash!

It's MJ's #23 away jersey from his final game with the Washington Wizards on April 16, 2003 ... the last time Jordan stepped on the court as an NBA player.

39-year-old Jordan dropped 15 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists against the Philadelphia 76ers that night -- but it wasn't enough to get the W. Final score, 107 to 87.

BTW, we're also told Jordan rocked the jersey for the final 2 months of his NBA career -- his final 14 road games.

The one-of-a-kind jersey is about to hit the block at Goldin Auctions ... and GA tells us they expect the threads to bring in over $500,000!!

As for where the jersey -- which Goldin says has been photo-matched to ensure authenticity -- came from ... well, it's a pretty cool story.

Back in 1984, Jordan befriended the owner of a limousine service ... and the 2 men became close.

MJ gifted the jersey to the guy who held on to it for years -- but he has now decided to part ways with the item.

The Jordan jersey is part of a larger collection of rare MJ items hitting the auction block -- including a pair of signed, game-worn, Air Jordan 1's from Michael's 1984-1985 season. GA also has MJ's signed, game-worn minor league baseball jersey from the Birmingham Barons.

There's never been a chance to literally rent out THE 'Bachelor' pad ... until now.

The famous mansion featured on "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" has hit Airbnb for a whopping $6,000 per night ... roses and ladies/gentlemen not included. But, you do get a ton of other goodies for that dough.

Villa de la Vina, its official name but more commonly known as "The Mansion," sits on 10 acres within the Santa Monica Mountains of Malibu. The Mediterranean-style pad -- which has been HQ for the reality series since 2007 -- has 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms on 10,000-square-feet. The entire place sleeps 13 guests.

Bach fans will easily recognize the famous archways in the swimming pool ... the same pool where Nick Viall entertained, among other ladies, Alexis, who showed up in a shark suit. Fans who have the dough can also relax in jacuzzis, slay away at a pool table or simply sit back and enjoy the canyon, mountain and vineyard views.

Fun fact ... an actual family lives in the mansion, but vacates twice a year for around 42 days so ABC and co. can do their thing.

If walls could talk, right?

Kodak Black's not letting imprisonment stop him from putting food on the table for thousands of folks in Florida this Thanksgiving.

The rapper dropped $15k to provide more than 1,000 frozen turkeys for families in Pompano Beach ... according to his attorney, Bradford Cohen.

We're told Kodak arranged for the birds to be sent to the E. Pat Larkins Community Center on Wednesday, where hundreds of people waited in a long line of cars to get their free food -- including a bag of chips and sodas -- courtesy of the incarcerated rapper.

As you can see ... Kodak's team members were at the community center to safely place the frozen turkeys in recipients' trunks before they drove off. We're told KB's giveaway lasted from 11 AM to 1 PM, and his people were responsible for the huge turnout by putting up flyers in local neighborhoods.

Cohen tells us another community leader who focuses on feeding the needy also helped spread the word for Kodak. We're told the rapper's working with the man on future outreach projects.

Kodak himself will be spending Thanksgiving in his new prison cell at USP Thomson, a high-security prison in Illinois. As we first told you ... he got transferred there last month from the Kentucky prison where he claimed he was being tortured.

Blueface is offering up his home for rent, but you can't exactly live like the rapper does ... because quarantine stripper parties aren't allowed!!!

Here's the deal ... Blueface just put his 3-bedroom mansion in the San Fernando Valley up for rent on Airbnb for a cool $2,500 per night, but there's a catch.

The listing says the host doesn't allow pets, parties or smoking.

Remember ... the rapper caught a ton of heat for hosting a party at his Chatsworth crib early on in quarantine. Video from the bash showed a bunch of women in g-strings and bikini tops getting into an all-out brawl.

Maybe Blueface learned a lesson and started listening to Dr. Fauci ... unlike some people.

Anyways, Blueface's pad looks super modern ... it's decked out with a pool, hot tub, indoor fireplace, grand piano, pool table and a basketball hoop.

Brett Favre says the Eagles' woes since winning the Super Bowl in 2018 can be explained pretty simply -- they screwed up the Carson Wentz vs. Nick Foles decision.

You'll recall ... back in the '17 season, Wentz had Philly rollin' -- he led the Birds to an 11-2 start -- but he had to sit the bench the rest of the way due to an ACL injury.

Foles went on to lead the team to a title over Tom Brady's Patriots in Wentz' stead ... but the Eagles decided to turn back to Carson when he was healthy the following season nonetheless.

And, when it came time to either pay Foles to keep him around or let him walk after the 2018 season ... Philly chose to punt -- and now, Favre says that was a decision that doomed the franchise.

"I actually thought that they should have kept Nick Foles rather than Carson Wentz just based off of production and where they got to," Favre said on ESPN's "First Take" on Tuesday.

"You know, they won a Super Bowl with Foles. And, that was a little bit surprising."

Foles hasn't done much of anything since he left the Eagles for Jacksonville ... he had an injury-plagued season with the Jags in 2019 and now he's sputtering with the Bears this year.

But, Wentz hasn't been much better ... the Eagles were 9-7 in 2019 and are just 3-4-1 this year -- AND Wentz leads the league in interceptions this season with 12.

Favre says injuries to the QB's weapons have played some role in Wentz's struggles ... but he explained Carson should be just flat-out better regardless.

The father of the late singer Selena and Netflix are being sued by a Hollywood producer who claims they left him out in the cold when it came to producing the new TV series.

Moctesuma Esparza filed docs suing Selena's dad, Abraham Quintanilla, claiming he broke an agreement they signed in 1995 giving him rights to the life stories of the Queen of Tejano's music and various members of her family.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Esparza says the deal included a motion picture as well as any other remakes. He says he helped produce the 1997 biopic "Selena" starring Jennifer Lopez ... and due to that success, he claims Abraham in 1998 spoke to him about the prospect of producing a TV series, mini-series or second film.

Esparza is also suing Selena's sister, Suzette ... and in the suit, he claims he met with her and Abraham to discuss a storyline he'd developed for a “Young Selena” project, but nothing came of it. He says he was shocked when he saw in 2018 that Abraham licensed the Selena rights to Netflix.

When he tried to get answers as to how Abraham got the green light from Warner Bros. -- the studio behind the film "Selena" -- Esparza says he got the cold shoulder from WB. Netflix is set to stream "Selena: The Series" next month.

The Lt. Gov. of Texas is dangling a very expensive carrot in hopes of finding proof of voter fraud ... but what he's really doing is motivating liars to come out of the woodwork.

Yes, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the crazy announcement Tuesday ... saying he "will pay up to $1 million to incentivize, encourage and reward people to come forward and report voter fraud." He says the cash will come from his campaign fund.

There is a catch ... Patrick says any whistleblowers would have to turn over evidence that leads to an arrest and conviction in order to get paid. Each person who does that will receive at least $25,000 -- so, Patrick is clearly planning to hook dozens of tipsters.

Remember ... Republicans have filed several affidavits and complaints in courts across the country alleging potential voter fraud and unfair elections, but so far, no court has reversed any election results or confirmed the allegations.

Make no mistake, Patrick is scoring points with President Trump, who still refuses to concede to President-elect Joe Biden. Patrick says he supports "Trump's efforts to identify voter fraud in the presidential election and his commitment to making sure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is disqualified."

With $25k up for grabs, we're guessing Patrick will get plenty of people claiming to have the evidence he's seeking -- whether they actually have it or not.

Britney Spears believes her father dished out hundreds of thousands of dollars to her former business manager for no good reason ... and she thinks it was way too much.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group began repping Britney more than a decade ago, and got paid 5 percent commission on her gross entertainment-related income.

That obviously added up to a lot of money when Britney was actively performing, but it took a hit when she announced her "indefinite work hiatus" in early 2019.

According to the docs ... Tri Star emailed Brit's dad, Jamie Spears, in November 2019 and said it wanted to remain on the 5 percent commission plan, but with a $500k annual minimum.

Britney claims her dad approved this new arrangement without attempting to negotiate a more favorable deal, and in doing so ... screwed her out of $308,974.51 it sent to Tri Star for its services in 2019.

Britney's legal team calls these "radical new arrangements" that gave Tri Star a 260% raise from the amount it would have been owed under the previous deal. She's looking to disallow the $309k payment as excessive and credit it back to her on the accounting.

We broke the story ... Tri Star also recently resigned as Brit's biz manager last month, and Jamie already hired a new one. This is creating another major rift in her ongoing conservatorship case, and played a role in Brit's decision to try to get her dad removed as co-conservator.