The old Yankee Stadium will be chopped up and sold to fans in little pieces as part of a $10 million-plus deal the team struck with the city, The Post has learned.
The payment will give the team the right to sell city-owned portions of the ballpark, including all 57,000 seats, the foul poles, dugouts and even the urinals sources familiar with the deal said.
The team already owned the grass, dirt, lockers, bases and outfield walls.
City officials would not comment on the particulars, but mayoral spokesman Andrew Brent said an agreement is being “finalized.”
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The demolition of Yankee Stadium will start prior to the April 16 Opening Day at the new ballpark, and fans will get specifics on the memorabilia sale in coming weeks, the sources said.
In addition to the guaranteed $10 million, the team will also pay the city a percentage of any profits in excess of $15.9 million.
Shea Stadium seats were sold for $869 a pair last year, and at the time, some speculated that Yankee Stadium seats could go for closer to $2,000 a pair.
“The seats are where the money is, but in this economy, it’s tough to put a value on sports collectibles,” said Mike Heffner, of auction house Lelands.com.
Meanwhile, it appears that it will also take a pile of money to get a seat at the new Yankee Stadium.
The team put tickets on sale for regular-season games yesterday, and most of the cheap seats in the bleachers and the upper decks were quickly grabbed.
Fans trying to buy seats for Opening Day, as well as games in August and September, were informed by Ticketmaster.com that the only tickets left were for field level seats priced from $900 to $2,600.