While Buffalo Bills fans said goodbye to Highmark Stadium last Sunday, there’s an opportunity to own a piece of the stadium forever.
A stadium can accumulate a lot of stuff when it’s been around for more than 50 years.
“There's definitely the troughs in the bathroom," said Brandon Steiner, founder of CollectibleXchange. "There's some stuff in some of the suites that are interesting, great photos, stuff maybe in the locker room that could be kind of quirky, one offs, that sort of thing.”
CollectibleXchange is a sports memorabilia company who has partnered with Erie County to remove and sell just about everything from the old stadium before it gets demolished.
“I knew it'd be fun taking the stadium apart, because I know it'd be meaningful," said Steiner. "You know, memorabilia is meaningful memories. I always say they call it memorabilia, but it's meaningful memories. And I felt like I'd go create some really cool products.”
Steiner said there’s keepsake possibilities for everyone. From section signs, pieces of the field and of course the thousands of seats.
“The lights on the top of the stadium, they're huge. Like to have one of those is kind of a good conversation piece," he said. "You know, a locker where you have your kids stuff put in there, whether it be the visitor's locker, maybe Brady's locker, Josh Allen's locker. Those are just cool, really cool keepsakes. Pieces of the goal post, too. So many field goals have been kicked in those with those goal posts.”
To avoid high shipping costs, CollectibleXchange will be hosting several “pickup parties” for local fans, as well as special VIP events at places like Wegmans and Dave and Adam’s. Some items are already up for sale on the Bills Store, but Steiner said it will still be several months before crews can get a full catalogue of the stadium’s inventory.
As part of the deal, 50% of proceeds will go towards Erie County. They plan to spend the influx of cash on local projects and initiatives.
