An agreement reached Monday over the fate of Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 home run ball will allow the auction of that ball to continue while the legal battle over its ownership continues.

According to a statement from Goldin Auctions and attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case, the agreement allows the auction house to continue accepting bids for the ball. Bidding on Monday was $1.5 million, or $1.83 million with buyer's premium. The money ultimately paid for the ball will be deposited into an account until the pending ownership dispute is resolved. The call is expected to close on October 22nd.

Two lawsuits challenged who owned the ball. Max Matus, 18, filed a civil lawsuit in late September claiming he owned the ball and seeking an injunction to stop the auction. Judge Spencer Eig of Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit Court did not grant the injunction. Instead, he scheduled a hearing for Oct. 10 and ordered that the ball not be sold before that date. Then a second fan, Joseph Davidov, filed a lawsuit claiming he was the rightful owner of the ball.

Goldin Auctions said in a statement Monday that the parties involved in the litigation agreed that the auction could proceed as planned “without any interference from the pending litigation.” As part of the agreement, Goldin Auctions said: “All parties want the 50/50 Ball to be auctioned by Goldin and have agreed to transfer all of their ownership interest in the 50/50 Ball to and give to the winner of the auction . “The winner has full certainty that he will receive the 50/50 ball free of charge and clearly.”

A lawyer at the firm representing Matus confirmed the agreement, which was discussed during a brief courtroom hearing in Florida on Monday. Devon Workman of Workman Injury Law, who is representing Davidov, also confirmed the details of the agreement to ESPN.

Last week, ESPN asked several legal experts and attorneys involved in previous litigation over ownership of home run balls what problems could arise if Goldin auctions off the Ohtani ball while litigation continues. Those experts said controversy could impact the potential selling price and raise questions about the ball's final unique title.

“It's difficult to figure out how to proceed, there's no perfect way,” attorney John Uustal of the Florida law firm Kelley-Uustal, which is representing Matus, told ESPN. “The auction will continue and whoever wins will receive a free and clear title. The dispute over property rights will continue in a regular legal dispute rather than in an abbreviated emergency form. The downside is that the ball is sold. This is the best way forward.” All parties agreed. … (Judge Eig) asked us to talk about it. (This) only determines whether the lawsuit can still proceed with a jury trial on property rights.”

The auction agreement canceled the Oct. 10 hearing.

Both Davidov and Matus' lawsuits say their respective plans were to keep the ball as a souvenir.

“We are grateful for the trust and support of all parties regarding the auction of the Shohei Ohtani 50/50 Ball,” said Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, in a statement.

As of Monday, the Ohtani ball would be the second most expensive baseball auctioned at $1.83 million, ahead of Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball from the 2022 season, which went for $1.5 million at the end of 2022 was sold.