Yankees SS Derek Jeter moves more product than any other MLB player and has done so for at least a decade. Accordingly, more than 10 MLB licensees are combining to produce a variety of products as Jeter begins a 10-game home stand tonight in the Bronx, needing 14 hits to reach 3,000. Tops among the licensing efforts are those from VF's Majestic brand. MLB's longtime uniform rights holder will have around 15 different T-shirts designs for various men’s, women’s and youth shirts, available once Jeter reaches 3,000 hits. “This is one of the biggest names in baseball on a dominant team in the biggest market,” said Jim Pisani, President of VF's Licensed Sports Group. “We think it will be a significant boost for business and so far our bookings have been national in scope and in every channel, from sporting goods to mass.” Michael Lewis Forever Collectibles/Team Beans is marketing commemorative DJ3K silicone bracelets for $5, $1 of which will go to Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation. Jeter will wear the bracelet in tonight’s game against the Red Sox. Other licensees expected to sell commemorative product include Wincraft, Steiner Collectibles, New Era, Twins 47, Mounted Memories, and PhotoFile, which hopes to sell photography-based licensed product at Yankee Stadium as soon as the night it happens (Terry Lefton, THE DAILY).
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: On Long Island, Jim Baumbach writes Jeter’s 3,000th hit could be a “memorabilia bonanza.” From his "bat to his spikes to the base from which he takes a bow, everything he touches on that day can become an instant collectible for a rarified market.” Steiner Sports Marketing CEO Brandon Steiner said that the "most valuable items such as Jeter’s Yankees jersey and bats could fetch as much as six figures each.” All game-used items put up for public sale “will be funneled through” Steiner Sports, which has contracts with both the Yankees and Jeter. The firm said it will have employees present at games to “organize and authenticate” the game-used items. In the days following Jeter’s 3,000th hit, the Yankees will decide “which items the team will give” Steiner to offer for sale. In addition, Steiner Sports plans to “take dirt from the field -- if Jeter gets No. 3,000 at Yankee Stadium -- and attach it to a framed photo.” The firm also will sell “commemorative ticket stubs from the game and a replica Jeter bat inscribed with the details of the 3,000th hit.” In addition, an MLB spokesperson said that the league will start selling the commemorative DJ3K bracelet today. The bracelet is “just the first of what aficionados expect will be an array of 3,000-hit memorabilia for fans to choose from” (NEWSDAY, 6/7).
