When I used to work for a computer company, we had an event where we got to meet the NY Mets. We each received a baseball and were able to take the ball around to the Mets for them to sign. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to meet sports figures and have them autograph an item for you. Often the lines are long, or the athlete is just not available. My kids are sports fans and would love to get an autographed item, but we have just never had the chance.
If you do want autographed sports collectibles, I found a new place called Hyped Up Sports.com. This company lets you send in an item and they will have the item autographed for you! Only certain items can be autographed, so you must send in a picture of the item first to see if it will fit on their schedule (items such as 8×10 and 16×20 pictures/poster, shoes, jersey, balls, are usually acceptable). Currently, the following athletes are participating: Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Tiger Woods. Each item is priced differently, so make sure you check out the pricing schedule.
Hyped Up Sports.com also has hundreds of sports collectibles items for basketball, football, baseball and golf. If you have a hard core sports fan in your life, this or one of their other items could be the perfect gift!