You Gotta Have Balls Page 15
I was glad that, back in Indiana, I had made it my priority to establish a relationship with the school, rather than to close any kind of deal. This was the strategy that worked.
“Now that I see all this,” Boo said at the end of the Steiner tour, “I see a bunch of stuff we could sell right away.”
Still, there was no reason to rush.
“Understand that with anything we do, we're going to move really, really slowly,” I said. “One step at a time. Let's start off on solid footing, and take it from there. We'll get to everything, but let's do it right.”
Before he left our office, Boo hugged me. That's when I knew we had a deal.
I imagined Touchdown Jesus smiling down, arms raised.
“It's good!”
Over the course of the entire Notre Dame pitch—from the first Pete Kelly phone call, to the reserved meeting on campus, to the visit at our office in New York—we maintained that we wanted to build a relationship with them, not make a sale. We really listened to what Notre Dame wanted, and not to our own voices and assumptions.
We're competitive at Steiner. We can be ferocious salespeople. But we need and have the ability to be patient as well.
Soon enough, guess what happened.
Notre Dame started asking us “What else?”
In fact, one of the proudest moments I've had at Steiner was when I received an e-mail from Boo Corrigan a little while after we finalized our deal. In it, Boo wrote:
The Steiner Effect has reached our bookstore, where they plan to incorporate a specific area for the Notre Dame-Steiner Collection in the expansion of the bookstore planned for April of 2008. Again, a win-win for all.
Remember, early on this relationship was met with great skepticism on campus and now, we are getting calls from top offices looking for something special (i.e., Steiner Sports items) to send [to their friends and associates]. Great stuff! [e-mail edited for context]
It was so satisfying to learn that as a result of our hard work and patience, our vision had resonated not only with the Notre Dame athletic department, but with the rest of the school as well. That proved to me that more than selling Notre Dame, Steiner Sports had done right by Notre Dame. The latter is the only way to build a lasting relationship with a business partner.
I have met many individuals that have a tough time finding that equilibrium of ambition and patience at work. They mean well, but once you let them out of the cage, they start running a mile a minute, and soon they're out of control.
That kind of approach will never work with a brand like Notre Dame.
They don't even point there.
Chapter 14
The Final Days of Yankee Stadium
It was September 20, 2008, and the Yankees were hosting the Orioles one final time. It was going to be a big day for Steiner Sports.
Before the first pitch, dozens of players from both teams came up to me to request certain pieces: signs, seats, lockers; assorted odds and ends. Some players even texted me their requests during the game!
I was sitting in a field level box along the third base line, with my son Crosby and a few friends. The air was warm, the sky was clear; it was the perfect fall afternoon. Except for the guy sitting next to me, in the adjacent box.
He looked to be middle-aged, and he was wearing tan pants and a blue shirt; he was dressed like he was part of the grounds crew. The entire game, he kept hassling me.
“Are you gonna sell the scoreboard?” he said. “Are you gonna sell the pitcher's mound?” He wouldn't stop.
“What else are you gonna sell?” he kept saying.
I politely ignored him.
After Mariano Rivera secured the final out of the 5-3 Yankees victory, Mr. Tan Pants leapt out of his seat and onto the field. He made it out there before the police even had a chance to set up a barricade.
Tan Pants ran straight to third base, squatted down, and pulled it out of the ground like a weight lifter hoisting a barbell. Then he ran right back to our section.
As he was stepping over the railing, I extended my hand as if to help him. Then I plucked the base from under his arm, instead. Before the guy had a chance to react, the entire section erupted in a cheer.
“Caught stealing!” someone yelled.
Everyone went crazy.
With all eyes on him, Tan Pants didn't go back to his seat. He fled the section, running up the steps and through the closest exit, before security could get to him. At least he was empty-handed.
I went back to my own seat and sat down. I looked around the stadium, trying to pinpoint those old seats we used to sit in when I was a kid, the ones with the obstructed views.
I took a deep breath; I was very relieved. I couldn't have stood there while that guy stole something from me.
That's right, me.
When that final game ended, I basically owned Yankee Stadium and almost everything in it.
I'll explain.
Yankees Players' Stadium Demolition Requests
Mike Mussina
His 6 season tix seats (Section 211, row E 1-6)
His locker plus facade
One of the large Yankees logos on the columns in the clubhouse
Flagpole with the bat and flag
Pitcher's rubber from his last start
Table from the lounge
Photo of Ruth/Gehrig from the lounge
Photos from hallway of Ruth hitting and DiMaggio hitting
Yankees banner from weight room
Derek Jeter
His locker
DiMaggio sign in dugout
locker chair
Brian Bruney
Two stadium seats #2, 3
Facade above his locker
Jose Molina
Two stadium seats
Joba Chamberlain
Two stadium seats #6, 2
Locker chair
Facade above his locker
Carl Pavano
One stadium seat
Cody Ransom
Base from last home stand
Ivan Rodriguez
Two stadium seats
Joe Girardi
Two stadium seats # 11,12
Johnny Damon
Two foul poles
10 stadium seats
Locker plus facade
Alex Rodriguez
Locker plus facade
Robinson Cano
Two stadium seats
Tony Pena
Five stadium seats
Mariano Rivera
Bullpen bench (outside)
Bullpen pitcher's rubber
Locker chair
Pitcher's rubber from his last game
Hideki Matsui
Two stadium seats
Home plate from last home stand
Locker chair and name plate
Jorge Posada
Locker plus facade and chair
Two stadium seats
Home plate from last home stand
Andy Pettitte
Two stadium seats
Banner from weight room
Pitching rubber from his last start
Jason Giambi
Two stadium seats
Locker plus facade
Phil Hughes
Two stadium seats
Gene Monahan (head athletic trainer)
Eight stadium seats
By the time we were crossing the t's and dotting the i's on Yankees-Steiner in 2004, it was common knowledge that the organization was also finalizing plans to build a new stadium. Which meant that the old stadium was going to be torn down.
I wanted to buy the priceless remains, from the foul poles to the lockers to the bullpen bench. I wanted every seat and every sign—and of course, every patch of dirt and grass.
Each of these items, big and small, made up the building in which Ruth, Gehrig, and the rest of the 1927 Yankees played their home games. It was where DiMaggio once roamed center field. Where, in 1956, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series histor
y, methodically mowing down the Brooklyn Dodgers, one by one. Where Mantle and Maris slugged it out for the regular season home run record in 1961. Where Reggie blasted three homers on three consecutive pitches to clinch the Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977. Where Aaron Boone became Aaron (Bleeping) Boone.
Yankee Stadium held the aura of a cathedral. Going to a game there was like going to a religious service for me.
I wanted to collect all of its sacred relics and deliver them to as many devotees as possible. I thought we could sell it all.
I wanted Yankees fans to own pieces of the wall on the left-field line that Derek Jeter famously dove over like a kamikaze, headfirst into a bank of photographers and cameras, just to snag a blooper off the bat of Red Sox Trot Nixon. I wanted them to be able to purchase the clubhouse carpet George Steinbrenner and Roger Clemens once stood on, spraying each other with champagne. The desk on which Joe Torre wrote dozens of World Series game lineup cards. Just thinking about his stuff gave me goose bumps!
Your old seat, the one you finally bought season tickets for, from which you used to look out at the perfectly manicured field on all those Bronx nights.
In preserving these totems from the wrecking ball, we'd also be preserving a very substantial part of people's lives. We had to treat it like your grandmother's home—respectfully, delicately. Every little piece had a meaning and a story.
This was going to be the most difficult project Steiner Sports would ever undertake. For one thing, the politics were incredibly tricky: While the City of New York owned the stadium itself, the legal extent of the scope of that ownership was somewhat ambiguous. Who owned the actual seats in the stadium? What about the locker rooms? While we had been selling Yankee Stadium dirt for years, the City technically owned the land the stadium was built on.
We had to divide all of this up, for the purposes of determining a price—and to determine which things we could take away in our trucks, and which had to be left to the city.
I'll spare you the details, mostly because I wish I could have been spared the details. The negotiations between the City of New York, Yankees-Steiner, and MLB went on for months, and they weren't always “friendly.” We haggled over everything. The City drove a hard bargain. The fact that the stadium was so close to so many subway lines made the situation additionally complicated—and expensive. You have to be very careful when demolishing a stadium whose foundation is entangled with multiple subway tunnels.
In the end, if we wanted the stadium, we were going to have to pay the City of New York $11.5 million. On top of that, we were going to have to pay $5 million in various construction and demolition fees, for a grand total of $16.5 million for the project. This level of investment was unprecedented for us.
Initially, not everyone loved the idea. The costs were higher than any deal we had worked with previously; to many people at Steiner, it didn't seem possible that we would ever earn our investment back, let alone turn a profit.
But I knew we had to have it. For years, I had poured my heart and soul into my partnership with the Yankees, and into building my company. Now we had the chance to buy the deconstructed Sistine Chapel, and to reincarnate it with a unique product line. It couldn't possibly get any better than that.
It could work. It had to work.
I mean, what was I going to do—wait for the next Yankee Stadium demolition?
After about two years of tough, complex negotiations with the City of New York and MLB, our $11.5 million deal to buy the demolished stadium was finally announced.
Press Release From the Mayor's Office “Mayor Bloomberg and New York Yankees Announce Agreement on Sale of Yankee Stadium Memorabilia”
Sale Brings $11.5 Million in Guaranteed Revenue to the City and Once-in-a-lifetime Opportunity for Fans
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the New York Yankees today announced an agreement on the sale of seats and other City-owned memorabilia from the original Yankee Stadium. The City will receive a guaranteed payment of $11.5 million from the Yankees, and the team will sell the City-owned memorabilia together with Yankees-owned memorabilia through Yankees-Steiner Collectibles, the exclusive provider of game-used memorabilia from the original and current Yankee Stadium. Memorabilia owned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation includes Yankee Stadium seats, bleachers and fixtures such as the foul poles, player lockers, and the iconic “frieze.” The City's proceeds from the sale will go to the City's general fund. The Yankees will be responsible for all contracting and costs related to the removal, sale and marketing of the inventory. Information on acquiring memorabilia from the original Yankee Stadium will be released by Yankees-Steiner Collectibles.
“The original Yankee Stadium has served as the place for some of baseball's most enduring memories,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Countless New Yorkers and people around the world have a lasting connection to the Stadium thanks to the legends who played in pinstripes, the plays that brought championships home, and even the popes that celebrated Mass there. I'm glad the City's agreement with the Yankees will generate much-needed revenue for the City, and offer fans a chance to own some of the famed Yankee Stadium history.”
“We are delighted to have reached an agreement with the City of New York,” said New York Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn A. Trost. “The original Yankee Stadium was—and still is—an important part of our country's sports heritage, and we are thrilled to be able to offer our fans the opportunity to acquire a keepsake from our former home.”
Even if we didn't break even financially, I knew owning the old Yankee Stadium would do wonders for Steiner; it would legitimize the brand even further. I also knew it would get us a gold mine of free publicity—and it did. The amount of coverage we got when we held the press conference announcing the deal was greater than anything we had ever experienced.
It was picked up in dozens of papers and magazines nationwide, including the New York Times, the Daily News, USA Today, New York Magazine, New York Post, Newsday, San Antonio Express-News, Seattle Times, Sports Business Daily, and the Boston Herald. And it was covered extensively on TV—earning spots on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and ESPN's Baseball Tonight, as well as radio mentions throughout the country, in markets including Houston, Atlanta, San Antonio, and Cleveland.
The phones in the office started ringing off the hook—and they didn't stop for days. There was a frenzy of interest. There's no telling how many new customers that wave of publicity brought us.
Some of the best deals don't add up on paper; they're about capturing people's hearts and minds more than their money.
One of the first special requests I got was for the men's room urinals. It would prove to be the first of many.
Everything is priceless to someone.
I wanted to sell the urinals, of course. We got some surprisingly good offers for them, but the Yankees didn't want the urinals, let's say, contaminating the rest of the products. I had to pick my battles, and saving and selling the decades-old toilets wasn't one of them.
Although Yankee Urinals does have a ring to it.
I was there the first day of the demolition, when the trucks began pulling up to the site, to take the royal treasure away. There were no markings on the sides, but I was proud to know that they were Steiner trucks.
Yankee Stadium Reincarnation
The most enjoyable part of the demolition project was gathering the Steiner sales team almost every day, for months, and just sitting around and brainstorming the Yankee Stadium product line. We were experienced dirt sellers; as far as we were concerned, everything was on the table. No idea was dismissed outright for being too far-fetched.
Key Stats:
Items included in the Original Offering, 2009: Joe Torre's office chair—$500
Eddie Layton's Stadium organ—$25,000
Yankee locker room chairs—$250
Home plate—$2,000
Home plate from last home game of final season—$200,000+
Giant “NY” logo sod behi
nd home plate—$50,000
Monument park brick—$149
Bleacher seat—$40
Stadium seat pair—$1,500
Commemorative single seat—$750
Additional Items: American League team flags from top of stadium; ticket booths; entrance turnstiles; dugout bench; the batting practice cage; seats from George Steinbrenner's box; section signs; All-Star Game banner on the frieze; loudspeakers; Phil Rizzuto Banner hanging outside by the Stadium Club entrance; mini flagpoles on top of frieze; 26 World Champs sign; upper roof message boards; Jeter dive wall (three sections); seats turned into barstools
Most Popular Items: 1. Seats
2. Dirt/Grass
3. Goldrick bricks from original stadium construction
4. Signage
5. Seatbacks (painted, autographed, etc.)
6. Foul Pole Pieces
7. The Black Pieces
8. Lockers
Players Who Bought Their Own Lockers: Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson
There were items we always knew we were going to sell, like seats, bases, and lockers—a number of them signed by current and former Yankees. But there were also less orthodox pieces that we realized could be collectibles only after scrutinizing the stadium. That's when we have the most fun at Steiner—when we dream up new collectibles. New ways to bring fans closer to their memories.
The following are some of the more interesting Yankee Stadium product stories.
The Frieze
On my desk, I have a replica of the front side of the original Yankee Stadium, as it looked in 1923. It's the color of sand, slightly opaque and grainy, like the old time era it represents. Even though it's small—the size of half a toaster—it's fairly heavy. It's one of my favorite Steiner products. That little model and I have a history together.