By Jason Klein
Originally Written For The Official Steiner Sports Blog – 12/22/10
The 2010 Steiner Sports year moved faster than Brett Gardner beating out an infield single.
After an historic 2009 at Steiner Sports, the company had a lot to live up to in the first year of the new decade. The previous year saw Steiner Sports move to a new facility, make available artifacts from the original Yankee Stadium, and develop a new line of exclusive product to commemorate the 27th World Series Title in Yankees history. How would 2010 stack up in an encore performance?
New Partnerships
The New Year began with a “Giant” announcement. In January, Steiner Sports informed collectors and sports historians of their plans to offer a new line of collectibles from the soon-to-be demolished Giants Stadium. The 2010 NFL season would see the Jets and the Giants move into the New Meadowlands Stadium, vacating their previous home across the parking lot. Similar to their efforts at the original Yankee Stadium, Steiner Sports offered one-of-a-kind artifacts from the old Meadowlands, including seats, seatbacks, stadium signage, sod from the field, and pieces of the goal posts from each end zone. Both Jets and Giants fans relished the opportunity, snatching up Meadowlands memorabilia at a record pace.
Meadowlands Seats
2010 also saw the World’s Most Famous Collectible Company partner up with the World’s Most Famous Arena: Madison Square Garden. With MSG set to undergo renovations over the next few years, Steiner Sports began offering unique pieces of the building for fans to add to their collections. In addition to physical pieces of the building hitting the market, including pieces of the court and arena signage, game used items from the Knicks,Rangers & Liberty also became available. Fans were able to scoop up game used uniforms, basketballs, pucks, sticks, and clippings from the basketball nets and hockey goals. These unbelievable items are all available on the Steiner Sports website and inside MSG during Knicks and Rangers home games.
The Dirt
In previous seasons, Steiner Sports had developed a line of product offering actual infield dirt from Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field. In 2010, Steiner Sports got down and dirty with all 30 Major League Baseball Stadiums. A team of Steiner Sports Product Development specialists created an entire line of memorabilia, released in April 2010, that incorporated Certified Authentic, game used field dirt from every stadium in baseball, giving fans of all teams a “field pass.”
The new line, approved and authenticated by Major League Baseball, included team logo crystals, key chains, stadium and player plaques, ceramic coasters, and 11×14 collages – all containing a capsule of field dirt. A line of “In the Game” collages were also developed – a unique 20×24 player collage with actual stadium dirt sprinkled on the photo.
Due to favorable pricing, the MLB dirt collection was a popular choice for holiday gifts, and in corporate incentive programs around the country.
The Padded Seats
In an unprecedented move, Steiner Sports temporarily adjusted the price on a pair of padded, championship-level Yankee Stadium Seats, giving fans the opportunity to “Take a Seat in History” at an exclusive price. The comfy blue seats had listed for $1,750 at their original release, but were discounted, for a limited time, at a price of just $999.
The response was overwhelming. Yankees fans, and baseball historians alike, reserved their piece of history, for display within their sports rooms or office. This rare collectible currently remains at the reduced price of $999, and will remain there through the holiday season. All other pairs of authentic Yankee Stadium seats remain at their original retail price.
The Events
Steiner Sports Clients were treated to a wide array of athlete Meet & Greet opportunities in 2010, both within the confines of their Corporate Offices, and their retail and Last Licks locations. Fans got up close, and personal with an impressive “who’s who” list of athletes including Eli Manning, Amar’e Stoudemire, David Wells, members of the 1977/1978 Yankees,Vinny Testaverde, Joba Chamberlain, Dustin Keller, Jim Leonhard, Jay Feely, Magic Johnson, Brian Cashman, Hakeem Nicks, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher, among others.
Jets Event With Leonhard, Feely & Keller
Live Meet & Greets, and the ability for customers to interact with athletes, is a trend that is sure to continue in 2011.
More Digital Interaction
2010 saw the world become more connected through the use of popular social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. As they so often do, Steiner Sports led the way in the sports memorabilia industry, connecting with thousands of new fans.
Through the popular websites, Steiner Sports found a new and unique avenue to connect with customers and sports fans, publicizing upcoming events and signings, running daily contests, promoting new product, and even sparking heated and passionate sports debates. It also gave fans a new forum to speak directly to the company, often expressing their interest in the industry or requesting information about athlete signings or products listed on SteinerSports.com.
Individual Steiner Sports Sales Representatives also joined the party, creating their own Facebook and Twitter accounts, giving their clients a new means to increase communication and interact on a more personal level. (Friend Jason on Facebook. Follow Jason on Twitter).
Moving Forward
In the first year of the new decade, Steiner Sports proved, once again, that the future is bright for the leader in authentic, hand signed and game used collectibles. There is no doubt that 2011 will prove to be more of the same. In the New Year, Steiner Sports figures to further revolutionize the sports collectibles industry with new and exciting product and events, in an effort to bring fans closer to their heroes than ever thought possible. If it’s happening on the field, it’s happening within the Steiner Sports corporate offices in New Rochelle, NY.
Just don’t blink. It’s a fast-paced, ever-changing industry, moving quicker than number 11 in pinstripes.
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