Major League Baseball has seen much consternation from fans and players over new uniforms that made their widespread debut this season, and that unrest apparently will lead to change.
According to a report from ESPN, which obtained an MLB Players Association memo distributed to players Sunday afternoon, the league intends to address several complaints about the new Nike-brand uniforms before the start of the 2025 season.
“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo read in part. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
Alleged issues with the uniforms include a propensity for collecting visible sweat, pants that are see-through and more prone to tearing, mismatched colors with tops and bottoms, and even smaller lettering, which makes legibility more problematic.
Each of those concerns is expected to be addressed, per the memo.
“We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants,” the memo read. “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.'”
Nike began its partnership with Major League Baseball in a 10-year, $1 billion deal in 2019, when it became the league’s official uniform supplier.
This year’s uniforms were rolled out as “Vapor Premier” uniforms and marketed for their superior performance.
–Field Level Media
