Own a Piece of Yankee Stadium

After the Yankees' final game, seats, turnstiles even urinals could be sold.

ByABC News
September 18, 2008, 6:24 PM

Sept. 19, 2008— -- Buying and selling used urinals, worn seats and strips of sweaty jerseys may sound like a losing business venture, but toss in the Yankees, Red Sox or Fighting Irish and you have more than a billion dollars in annual sales.

As the final game in Yankee Stadium this weekend approaches, collectors are salivating at the prospect of buying signs, bases and even trash cans in what experts predict will be a $50 million-plus fire sale.

"There is little doubt in my mind that everything that pertains to Yankee Stadium that can be sold will be sold," said Robert Vazquez, director of talent procurement at Steiner Sports, which has an exclusive contract to sell "game-used" Yankees merchandise and is working a deal to sell all stadium memorabilia. "It's a piece of Americana."

The memorabilia industry has shifted tremendously in the last decade as collectors have swayed from simple autographed items carrying the risk of forgery, like baseball cards and balls, and settled on items sold directly by sports teams via various collecting agencies, like seats; foul poles; scorecards; signed, used clothing; and even signs from the stadium.

"You see people getting more and more leery and asking for certificates of authentication," said George Tahan, owner of Ballparkseats.com, which buys and sells sports memorabilia. "You definitely have a lot of consumers worried about getting what they pay for. Now a team's market drives demand and price."

And there is no bigger market than New York. All eyes in the memorabilia world are on Yankee Stadium. Vazquez says because the city owns the permanent fixtures -- like seats and scoreboards -- at the stadium, negotiating a deal to auction the items is more complicated. Steiner Sports is expected to sell the items, though no deal has been finalized.

"New York sports teams have 200 years of history, which make this a sweet spot for us," Vazquez said. The problem is not selling the items but predicting what will be sellable after demolition, though everyone in the industry predicts everything will be sold.