Legends is "close to acquiring Steiner Sports from agency holding conglomerate Omnicom Group, which itself acquired the seminal sports collectibles company" in '00 for $25M, according to Terry Lefton in this week's SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources said that the deal includes $14M in "memorabilia inventory and that Omnicom has been trying to sell off Steiner for some time, especially after the memorabilia market nosedived" following the '08-09 recession. The deal would "allow Legends to replicate the Steiner memorabilia curation, retail and acquisition model at the sports venues it services outside of Yankee Stadium." While Legends already services venue merchandise operations for a number of pro teams and venues, including the Yankees, the new deal would allow it to "enter the merch business as a manufacturer and wholesaler, capabilities that rival Fanatics has been building for some time, complemented by equity investments from some of the biggest properties from which it does business." Sources said that Fanatics, which has "direct player memorabilia deals ... looked at the deal but walked away, satisfied with a memorabilia business it's built" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/29 issue).
