Published June 19, 2025 | Updated June 19, 2026

Stadium View Sports Cards, opened in 1992 by a guy whom sports reporters dubbed the ambassador of Omaha, served as the epicenter and the most hospitable place during the College World Series when it was played in South Omaha.

An attorney by trade, Greg Pivovar was also an avid sports card collector and the brother of Omaha World-Herald sports writer Steven Pivovar. Its founder was involved in card shows as far back as the 1970s. He used the red, white, and blue building at 3702 S. 13th Street to showcase his collectibles, including signed baseballs, pennants, magazines, hats, t-shirts, posters, baseball cards, and much more.

Stadium View took on a life of its own and evolved into less of a retail store and more of a CWS museum in which Greg shared the history of the game with visiting fans, including many out-of-towners, who found their way into his shop. With just one bar located nearby, he wasn’t shy about giving away cans of beer to adults who walked through the door. Greg estimates that over the years he has given away 75,000 beers.

He was so beloved among fans that he even married an out-of-town couple in his store. For his part, Greg said it was more about having fun and honoring the game than it was about selling merchandise. He just hoped to make enough money to pay the bills in the store that only opened during the college baseball championship. Between 500 and 1,000 fans would visit his shop during that time.

The move of the CWS downtown marked the end of an era. The carnival-like atmosphere along 13th Street disappeared, and while Greg rented space in the Tip Top building during the 2011 CWS, he opted not to relocate downtown permanently. To this day, he continues to open the shop and greet fans who make their way south to reminisce about what was, to visit the zoo and its miniature Rosenblatt field in the parking lot, or to snag a beer while checking out his vast collection.

While Stadium View was a go-to spot during the CWS’s Rosenblatt days, the building it calls home dates back much further. Constructed in 1895, it served as a neighborhood grocery store for decades before Municipal Stadium was built across the street.

By 1915, Joseph Lacina, a Bohemian immigrant who was a butcher by trade, operated Lacina Grocery and Meat from this building. Located near Little Bohemia, the family, including wife Mary Kudrna and their daughter also named Mary, lived in the rear portion of the building, which had a full basement, double garage, and various outbuildings. Not long after Joseph passed away in 1947, the neighborhood changed with the construction of the stadium and the transition of Riverview Park into Henry Doorly Zoo.

With the neighborhood transformed, its location along South 13th Street no longer made sense as a grocery store. In the early 1950s, it had become a boat retail store called Kitboats. From the store you could purchase your own kitboat, a boat you could assemble yourself with pre-cut parts and instructions.

The building seems to have fallen off the map for a time afterwards until it found new life as Greg’s shop. If you’re in the area, make the drive three miles south and say hi. While you’re there, maybe pick up some memorabilia and drink a beer.

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Joseph Lacina (1881-1947) – Find a Grave Memorial
• https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/stadium-view-cards-has-character-in-more-ways-than-one
• https://www.espn.com/college-sports/blog/_/name/ncaa_baseball/id/4268180/stadium-view-sportscards-heart-cws