PDA

View Full Version : Steiner, the Yankees, and why your jersey cost $15k



kingjammy24
12-16-2005, 04:17 PM
A thought: Perhaps Steiner's pricing is reflective of the amount of money paid to the Yankees in return for the exclusive marketing agreement of their game-used items. The Yankees could've chosen anyone to market their game-used items. Steiner must've paid a very hefty price to win the contract.
If Steiner paid a gargantuan amount, then they must necessarily price their items in a way that recoups their costs. Is it unrealistic to think that the Yankees, of all teams, commanded a huge amount for this agreement?
Perhaps it's this agreement and the price that Steiner paid for it that is driving their prices.

A little background on Steiner:
------------------------------------------------
Steiner Sports Marketing, Inc. is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) www.omnicomgroup.com (http://www.omnicomgroup.com/). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.
Yankees-Steiner Collectibles was launched in the beginning of 2005, and is an unprecedented multi-year partnership which provides fans direct access to Yankees memorabilia and players.
-------------------------------------------------
I didn't know they were part of a publicly traded company. So now you're looking at Steiner absolutely needing to hit specific profit targets in order to satisfy the hungry shareholders of Omnicom Group.

What is responsible for Steiner's high prices? First and foremost, I personally believe it is Steiner customers. When you feed the beast, you can't blame it for it's appetite. Secondly, I feel it's Omnicom for authorizing Steiner to pay the amount they paid to the Yankees. Thirdly, the Yankees for requesting what is likely an insane amount and not caring about the fact that for Steiner to recoup their costs from the payment, they will need to charge astronomical fees which will certainly result in "average fans" not being able to acquire Yankees game-used items.

You can't compare Steiner to Jim Yackel or Kim Stigall or wonder why Steiner is selling it's jerseys for 10x more even though they're both still essentially 'game used jerseys'. Jim Yackel doesn't owe a small fortune to the Yankees. Jim Yackel doesn't have shareholders and a large parent corporation who demand ever-increasing returns on their investments.

My guess: Steiner is a small pawn in between the Yankees and Omnicom Group. A middle-man who makes a relatively decent amount of profit from distributing the goods. The real money is being made by the Yankees and Omnicom who obviously take a cut from Steiner's profits.

Rudy.