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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Philly sports scene is always changing, just ask Sixers fans. With Ben Simmons in Brooklyn, some in our area are now making a trade of their own.
Stateside Vodka sits along North Hancock Street in Kensington. The distillery has been open since 2015.
“Still that small Philadelphia company trying to make it,” Stateside Director of Operations Eddy McGehean said.
But deep inside those distillery walls lies more than specialty vodka drinks, sodas and teas.
The staff are die-hard Philadelphia sports fans and like many others, had nothing but love for Ben Simmons in the beginning. It wasn’t until those sparks quickly faded.
“I think Philadelphians love their athletes, but they want the athletes to love us back and to number one, work their tail off and hustle, give all they have and this guy didn’t. He didn’t understand our city,” Mcgehean said.
Stateside Vodka decided to offer a trade, one a little more clever than adding James Harden to the roster.
“No one wants to wear these anymore,” Mcgehean said.
For every Simmons jersey returned to the distillery, it will hand out a $25 gift card to Stateside Vodka.
“I have been making everyone shoot the jersey into the basket, but I tell them to miss it on purpose because that’s what Ben would have done,” Mcgehean said.
The jerseys will be donated to shelters in Brooklyn, which was a smoother approach than originally planned.
“What do we want to do? Burn them? Shred them? And someone in our text chain said we should donate them so they are not being just wasted,” Mcgehean said.
Fans are looking forward to a fresh start after the Ben breakup.
“He didn’t want to be here and that’s the number one thing we want from our athletes and that’s why we come to this now,” Mcgehean said.
So far, Stateside has over 50 jerseys. They will be accepting Simmons jerseys until Feb. 28.