Famed fictional New York Yankees employee George Costanza is taking on a new bobblehead form in what has now become a summer tradition in the Bronx.
The Yankees have announced that Aug. 27 will be “George Costanza Calzone Bobblehead Night” at Yankee Stadium.
The next installment of the Constanza Bobblehead Universe features the “Seinfeld” character in a Yankees letterman jacket and holding a half-eaten calzone with both hands. The fan giveaway item is a play on the classic Season 7 episode titled “The Calzone,” which first aired in 1996 and involved the show’s version of then Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (voiced by “Seinfeld” co-creator, writer and Yankees fan Larry David) becoming enamored with the cheese, pepperoni and eggplant calzone Costanza brought to work for lunch one day. Hilarity ensued when Costanza ran afoul of Paisano’s, the pizza parlor that made the calzones, and he can no longer get what the boss demands.
“When I find something I like, I stick with it,” Steinbrenner tells Constanza. “From 1973 to 1982 I ate the exact same lunch every day. Turkey chili in a bowl made out of bread. Bread bowl, George! You’d eat the chili and then you’d eat the bowl. Nothing more satisfying than looking down after lunch and just seeing the table.”
In 2024 the Yankees introduced the team’s first Costanza bobblehead, based on the famous image of him teaching Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter how to hit while wearing a button-down shirt and tie. Last year, “Seinfeld” fans waited in long lines to get the bobblehead of Costanza sleeping under his desk. This year, handheld Italian cuisine takes the spotlight.
The Yankees will hand out the calzone bobblehead to the first 18,000 fans who arrive at Yankee Stadium for the game against the Houston Astros (whose representatives Constanza was asked to entertain in another Season 7 episode, “The Hot Tub”). The exact same number of Constanza desk bobbleheads were given away last year. When the Yankees division rival, the Baltimore Orioles (“Seinfeld” character Elaine Benes’ favorite team), announced a giveaway of 15,000 Tupac Shakur bobbleheads earlier this year, demand was so high the team increased the giveaway to 20,000. But the Yankees say the 18,000 figure is a hard cap that won’t increase, according to Debbie Tymon, the team’s senior vice president of marketing
“(The number) 18,000 is a standard threshold and I also think it drives the collectability of the item. I think it makes it unique,” Tymon told The Athletic. “Our fans come out early. They line up. The excitement builds. And it drives the collectibility of the piece. Everybody wants to complete their collection of the three Seinfeld bobbleheads.”
Pre-sales of the calzone bobblehead are already in the $150 range on eBay. The Yankees once again are expecting early lines before game time, but the team is undecided on whether to open the gates earlier than usual on Aug. 27.
“Lines form early outside for every item we give away because they’re all so popular,” Tymon said. “It’s a little hard to tell this far in advance. We’ll gauge that. If the numbers justify opening a two-hour gate, we will.
Craig Cartmell, the Yankees’ senior associate director of marketing, promotions, stadium events and broadcast marketing, says the overall response to the team’s Costanza desk bobblehead last year was “out of this world,” which led to anticipation for future Yankees/”Seinfeld” collaborations from fans.
“It was probably by far our most popular giveaway,” Cartmell said. “We got a lot of questions like, ‘What are you guys gonna do this year?’ The ‘Seinfeld’ people were really excited when we came to them with this idea. Putting him in the Yankee jacket. Eating a calzone and tying into the George Costanza/George Steinbrenner calzone episode.”
Each iteration of the Costanza bobbleheads have come with efforts from the Yankees to include Jason Alexander, the actor who played the character on “Seinfeld,” as a part of the festivities. The last two years the Yankees and the actor were not able to make it happen, but Tymon said the team is still holding out a little bit of hope for this year or beyond.
“We actually have tried several times to see if his schedule would work since he could be here on the day of the game, throw a first pitch, do some meeting and greeting and social media, because it’s such a unique character,” Tymon said. “Our schedules have not really aligned. We’re still hopeful this year we might have a chance, but he’s a very busy man and it’s hard to pin him down.”
Despite Alexander having yet to be able to make an appearance to coincide with what has become a popular event at Yankee Stadium, Cartmell says the actor and his team have been involved with the creative process each time.
The Yankees’ latest George Costanza bobblehead will be given away on Aug. 27. (Photo courtesy of the New York Yankees)
“He is on board with these,” Cartmell said. “Not only do we have to run them by (the “Seinfeld” team), these have to be run by Jason Alexander and his representatives for their approval, as well. He’s totally (in agreement) for us each year doing these.”
If Alexander can’t make it to his Seinfeld bobblehead night this year, then what about the calzones themselves? Perhaps a special menu item given the namesake of the night? The Yankees haven’t said yes. But they haven’t said no, either.
“There’s a little discussion on (calzones) because this year in particular our concessionaires have worked with creating collectible cups, collectible food items on the nights of our special events,” Tymon said. “So there is a little conversation. We have to see.”
Given fan response and the seemingly limitless amount of possibilities for comedic ideas with this collaboration, it’s likely this won’t be the last “Seinfeld”/Costanza bobblehead, according to the team.
“I would tend to say no, it won’t be the last time. We are currently looking at creative options for the fourth in the series,” Tymon said. “I think what’s unique about our relationship with ‘Seinfeld’ is we have something with the program no other club has. When you start the creation of a bobblehead promotion it’s always fun to design something that’s a multi-year collectible.”
“It allows us to reminisce,” Cartmell said. “It gives our fans a great opportunity to relive the fun of Seinfeld through our night.”
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