Looking for NFL Draft keepsakes? They'll be sold mostly on the Parkway
NFL Draft 2017 memorabilia limited across the board in region. Fans wanting keepsake items have best shot at the NFL Draft Experience being set up along the Parkway.
Looking for hats and T-shirts to bring home as souvenirs of the NFL Draft in Philadelphia? You'll find them primarily at the NFL Draft Experience -- the sprawling, interactive-heavy, fan-tailored mini-NFL city that's been erected along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway around the Art Museum for the three-day mega-sports event.
NFL spokesman Kamran Mumtaz said official NFL Draft merchandise -- including the 2017 NFL Draft Cap, customized jerseys, and other exclusive gear -- can be purchased at the NFL Shop and two other, smaller venues within the NFL Draft Experience, and at www.nflshop.com.
Outside of the NFL Draft Experience, Sports City at the Playground in Atlantic City and the two Philadelphia Eagles Pro Shops at Lincoln Financial Field and Cherry Hill will be the only sports-apparel retailers in the region to sell the official New Era NFL Draft Day hat, which will be worn by draftees before it's announced which NFL team has selected them.
Sports City manager Dee Harjani said he got a shipment of a few hundred of the hats and began selling them April 17. "We'll be selling them until they run out," he said.
But other than that, the pickings will be limited.
Sporting-goods chains Dick's and Modell's will be carrying the usual Eagles jerseys and hats, but neither store will have any Draft-specific merchandise, according to store managers for both.
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Even iconic Mitchell and Ness Nostalgia Co. on 1201 Chestnut St. won't be carrying NFL Draft 2017 memorabilia.
"We only carry nostalgia jerseys of the legends, not current or soon-to-be NFL players," Mitchell and Ness sales associate Ray Wadas said.
Champs at the King of Prussia Mall won't be carrying Draft merchandise.
Schuylkill Valley Sports, which has 17 stores throughout the region, will sell only standard Eagles Draft T-shirts in eight of its stores, as in previous years, said John DeMaria, the firm's director of Apparel and Licensed Product.
A much wider selection will be at the NFL Shop at NFL Draft Experience, a 10,000-square-foot store that will offer T-shirts, caps, and other items Draft-related and Draft-customized, such as having a favorite NFL team emblazoned on a T-shirt. There will also be two satellite locations of NFL Shop along the Parkway.
Hours of operation for the NFL stores are the same as the three-day NFL Draft event: from noon to 11 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, and Friday, April 28; and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 29.