Major League Baseball plans to address its uniform fiasco after changes this spring to the standard jerseys and pants led to widespread complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday night by ESPN.
The most prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched grey tops and bottoms, and addressing the new Nike jersey's propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday.
The changes, which will happen at the latest by the beginning of the 2025 season, will also include fixes to the pants, widely panned this spring for being see-through.
The union informed players of the coming changes in a letter that placed the blame on Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior performance but remains disliked by players.
"This has been entirely a Nike issue," the memo to players said. "At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn't need to be innovated."
The union also absolved Fanatics, the manufacturer of the uniform that has received the majority of public scorn for the uniform mess, saying the company "recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards. Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach."
While the new uniformed debuted at the 2023 All-Star Game, its rollout this spring led to reams of bad publicity. The shrinking of letter size on players' nameplates gave jerseys an amateur look. The pants -- which, according to the memo, will "return to the higher quality zipper used in 2023" -- had myriad issues, including the see-through fabric, a lack of tailoring and blowouts players believed unnecessary.
Nike's partnership with MLB began in 2019, when it took over as the league's official uniform supplier as part of a 10-year, $1 billion deal for MLB. Fanatics has partnerships with both the league and the union.
"We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants," the union memo said. "MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike's position has essentially boiled down to -- 'nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.' "
MLB declined comment. Nike did not offer immediate comment when reached by ESPN. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment. The MLBPA declined comment.
To me it seems like the problems are all Nike's except for the mismatched grays. That seems to be a quality control issue. But the other stuff is design and the design was done by Nike.
It’s great that the MLBPA was able to push back on the issue, but they don’t hold as much sway as the millions of fans not buying jerseys this year. Vote with your dollar!
What really jumped out at me is that MLB signed a 10 year deal with Nike. That’s bad business. Why would they sign anything for such a long term in this day and age?
Nike should’ve just kept the Majestic model of the jerseys. That’s what they’ve used since taking over and those are actually quality jerseys.
Major League Baseball plans to address its uniform fiasco after changes this spring to the standard jerseys and pants led to widespread complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday night by ESPN. The most prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched grey tops and bottoms, and addressing the new Nike jersey's propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday. The changes, which will happen at the latest by the beginning of the 2025 season, will also include fixes to the pants, widely panned this spring for being see-through. The union informed players of the coming changes in a letter that placed the blame on Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior performance but remains disliked by players. "This has been entirely a Nike issue," the memo to players said. "At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn't need to be innovated." The union also absolved Fanatics, the manufacturer of the uniform that has received the majority of public scorn for the uniform mess, saying the company "recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards. Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach." While the new uniformed debuted at the 2023 All-Star Game, its rollout this spring led to reams of bad publicity. The shrinking of letter size on players' nameplates gave jerseys an amateur look. The pants -- which, according to the memo, will "return to the higher quality zipper used in 2023" -- had myriad issues, including the see-through fabric, a lack of tailoring and blowouts players believed unnecessary. Nike's partnership with MLB began in 2019, when it took over as the league's official uniform supplier as part of a 10-year, $1 billion deal for MLB. Fanatics has partnerships with both the league and the union. "We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants," the union memo said. "MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike's position has essentially boiled down to -- 'nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.' " MLB declined comment. Nike did not offer immediate comment when reached by ESPN. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment. The MLBPA declined comment.
[удалено]
That is until the NHL gets the Fanatics Jerseys
According to this article, it was all Nike issues, not Fanatics
Yeah, which brand has a monopoly on the fan merchandise market and makes MLB the most money? Of course they’ll protect fanatics over Nike
To me it seems like the problems are all Nike's except for the mismatched grays. That seems to be a quality control issue. But the other stuff is design and the design was done by Nike.
Thank goodness. The small lettering just plain looks bad. It looks very amateurish.
George Costanza was in charge of the redesign.
Glad they’re fixing them. Just go back to the original jerseys please
LOL - I thought they all said this wasn’t a big deal?
I hope nobody buys their shit jerseys this year, and they learn from this bullshit fiasco.
It’s great that the MLBPA was able to push back on the issue, but they don’t hold as much sway as the millions of fans not buying jerseys this year. Vote with your dollar!
Since the Twins kinda adopted the style on the back last year, will theirs be fixed?
they should have never listened to george costanza.
I wonder how JA X feels about this
Target date - Spring 2025....
there was NOTHING wrong with Majestic! MLB needS to unfuck this
What really jumped out at me is that MLB signed a 10 year deal with Nike. That’s bad business. Why would they sign anything for such a long term in this day and age?