Report: MLB will modify Nike uniforms by start of 2025 season
Apr 29, 2024, 11:27 AM
Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll circles the bases after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Cal Quantrill to lead off the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Major League Baseball plans to modify its Nike uniforms by the start of the 2025 season following complaints this spring from players and fans, according to a report from ESPN.
The changes will include restoring larger lettering on the nameplates and correcting for mismatched gray tops and bottoms, pants that are sometimes see-through and fabric that looks different when players sweat. The changes were detailed in a memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday and will take affect by the beginning of 2025.
The report says the memo blamed Nike and its new performance-focused Vapor Premier uniform. The union declined comment to The Associated Press.
“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
The union said Fanatics, which manufactures the Nike-designed uniforms, was not to blame. The memo said Fanatics “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.”
