LOS ANGELES -- An auction to sell O. J. Simpson's Heisman Trophy and other sports memorabilia seized to satisfy a wrongful death lawsuit is expected to spark one of the largest online bidding wars ever, said a spokesman for the prestigious auction house Butterfield & Butterfield.
Michael Schwartz, Butterfield & Butterfield's director of entertainment memorabilia, said Wednesday he expects "tens of thousands, if not more" Internet bidders to join the action on 16 February. The online auction will run concurrently with conventional floor and telephone auction.
Online bidders can preregister by going to the auction house's Web page.
Simpson's property will be auctioned as part of a court-ordered sale to meet a US$32.5 million civil judgment against him in the 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. The celebrity athlete was acquitted of the murders by a criminal court jury, but later was found civilly liable for their deaths.
The jewel in the crown is Simpson's Heisman Trophy, which he won in 1968 as the nation's best college football player while playing for the University of Southern California. According to the catalog, it is expected to fetch at least $100,000.
The official certificate presented to Simpson in 1985 when he was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame is expected to sell for between $5,000 and $10,000. On the lower end of the scale, bidders can vie for Simpson's blue and white golf umbrella complete with the official National Football League logo, expected to sell for between $50 and $70.
Two of Simpson's football jerseys bearing the number 32 -- one from USC and another from the Buffalo Bills -- are being auctioned together and are expected to raise between $1,000 to $1,500.
Tom Mortenson, editor of Sports Collectors Digest, said Butterfield & Butterfield may have set its prices too low. The jerseys, he said, could fetch between $6,000 and $8,000.
In addition to the sports memorabilia, personal property seized from Simpson's former Brentwood mansion on sale include furniture, rugs, paintings, and several Tiffany-style lamps.
Copyright© 1999 Reuters Limited.
