Businesses near Yankee Stadium cut out of Nike-MLB deal
BY ALEX MITCHELL
AMNEWYORK REPORTER
The New York Yankees are
going to bat for mom and pop
shops on River Avenue that
would be benched by a new
merchandising deal between
the MLB and Nike going into
effect this January.
According to Borough
President Ruben Diaz, Jr., the
newly-inked retail strategy
will bar eight licensed apparel
stores near Yankee Stadium
from selling any pinstripe
merchandise when the crack
down on non ‘premium distribution
points’ takes the fi eld
in 2020.
The deal, Diaz Jr. observed,
places a number of small businesses
which sell Yankee merchandise
near the Stadium in
serious jeopardy, including
Ballpark Sports, D & J Variety,
Home Plate, Pinstripe
Collectibles, Sammy’s, S & A
Sports, Stadium Souvenirs
and Stan’s Sports World. Each
of these shops rely on Bomber
merchandise to keep their mural
covered roll down gates up
during game days.
“Unfortunately, these retailers
are not part of Nike Licensed
business development
strategy at this time,” Nike
Territory Licensed Category
Sales Director Judy Stobbe
told the 161st Street BID Director
Cary Goodman on Tuesday,
October 8.
Stobbe met with the local
merchants on River Avenue
over the summer when businesses
were notifi ed of the new
deal. Goodman said that Nike
had wanted to see whether or
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not they could fi t these stores
into this new sales model —
but a collaborative effort between
small and big business
had apparently struck out.
The Yankees, in an effort
to step to the plate for the mom
and pop shops, reached out to
the BID and asked for a list of
these endangered stores before
approaching the league in
efforts to keep the eight roster
spots on Saturday, October 25.
“The magnitude of the
problem is extreme,” Yankees
COO Lonn Trost wrote to the
MLB, also noting that these
businesses rely on Yankees
merchandise to put up their
own winning numbers.
Trost also confi rmed that
the MLB is currently working
with Nike to amend the potential
issue, stating that he’s
“confi dent that (his) respective
concerns will be resolved.”
Diaz Jr., along with Councilwoman
Vanessa Gibson and
other Bronx political fi gures,
all advocated to have the licensed
merchandisers grandfathered
in to the new marketing
scheme, which Goodman
says is to divert sales to online
and major retail outlets.
Those two also wrote separate
letters addressed to Nike,
advocating that stripping
these stores of Yankees gear
would be detrimental to the
south Bronx’s economy.
“Taxpayers provided this
stadium with nearly $1.2 billion
in public subsidies,” Diaz
wrote in his letter which was
also addressed to Yankees
president Randy Levine and
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Gibson also noted that the
businesses spend an upwards
of $1 million a year in licensed
apparel, too.
“Given their longevity,
community commitment, and
economic vitality, we strongly
believe these stores to be in
fact, premium distribution locations,”
Gibson wrote.
Stan The Man’s Baseball Land, closed for the season, on River Avenue. “Unfortunately, these retailers are not
part of Nike Licensed business development strategy at this time,” a Nike rep said. (File)
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